A Colorado CBD company is set to roll out across Japan.
NewAge Beverage Corp has said its CBD drink is the first of its kind to gain approval from the Japanese Ministry of Health and the Japanese Narcotics Control Division.
It began working with the authorities in early 2019 to provide adequate testing data and quality control systems to prove its worth in the country.
The company said its product passed the test because NewAge could prove the drink contained no THC- the psychoactive chemical found in cannabis.
The Noni+CBD drink, which contains 25mg of CBD in a 50ml shot of Tahitian Noni Juice, is now ready to be sold in Japan.
On the company’s website, senior director of Noni and product research Brett West said: “Noni and CBD are both remarkable, and they share a similar history. Noni was the most widely used health plant used by the Polynesian people before the arrival of the Europeans. Hemp, which is the non-psychoactive variety of the cannabis sativa plant, had been also used for centuries for food, health, fiber and so forth.”
The product is set to reach shelves in Japan later this year, and the company hopes to present products to other countries as regulations allow.
Chief medical and scientific officer of NewAge Dr Jerry Haase celebrated the company’s success in a press release.
He said: “The combination of Noni and CBD is really quite remarkable in its effect on the endocannabinoid system in the body. In a recently published paper in the Journal of Biosciences and Medicines, Noni demonstrated dual inhibition of both monoacylglycerol lipase (MAGL) and fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH). In combination with CBD, it has been shown to enhance the effect on both CB1 and CB2 receptors in the body.”
Since CBD was legalized in 2018, the market has become flooded with drinks, oils, creams, and cosmetics all containing the hemp derivative.
Company COO David Vanderveen said consumers love the idea of mindfulness in a bottle and the experience – the aroma, the taste, and effect all deliver on the promise’.
He added: “People have described the product as oishi (delicious/fruity), subarashi (awesome) and one person even said it tasted and felt like she went to heaven. The Japanese consumers love it.”
Vanderveen, who was appointed as COO in January, was the founder and CEO of energy drink and sports nutrition brand XS Energy which was also launched in Japan. He sold the company in 2015.
NewAge doesn’t only focus on CBD- the company offers a range of health and wellness beverages including brands Nestea, Illy Coffee, Volvic, Evian, Tahitian Noni, TeMana, Búcha Live Kombucha, and Marley.
Although companies should not promise any health effects of CBD products on the body, users often report they sleep better, are less stressed, have clearer skin, and feel less pain.
The industry is now coming to a point, however, where the FDA needs to find a way to regulate the CBD products that over 64 million Americans now use daily.
While some have seen the FDA’s relaxed stance as a way to say CBD is safe, others remain worried over the lack of research surrounding hemp products.
Products on the US market should contain no more than 0.3% THC, but many are worried a large number of manufacturers are breaking the rules, sometimes unknowingly.
Other countries have now started to take a stance over technically illegal products on the market – the UK has warned CBD companies that don’t undergo an approval process in the next year will be taken off the shelves.
