A CBD product cannot legally carry a Supplement Facts panel, so there is no standardized box to compare. FDA has concluded that CBD products are excluded from the dietary supplement definition under section 201(ff)(3)(B) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, because CBD is the active ingredient in an approved drug, Epidiolex, and was investigated as a drug before being marketed as a food or supplement. The panel rules at 21 CFR 101.36 therefore don't apply. Every number on a CBD label is the brand's own choice of what to print and how. These are the seven worth finding.
1. Total cannabinoids in the package
This is the one figure that makes two products comparable, and it is usually the largest number on the front. Watch for a specific switch: a label that reads "1,000 mg hemp oil" is describing the weight of the extract, not the cannabinoid in it. "1,000 mg CBD" is the number you want. If the label only gives you the former, you cannot work out what you're buying without the lab report.
2. What's in one serving, and what one serving is
A serving is defined by the brand, not by regulation, which is why per-serving prices are the easiest figure to game. In the Forbes Health Best CBD Gummies testing table, the recommended serving is one gummy for some products on the list and two for others. A "50 mg serving" that costs $2 is a different proposition depending on whether you ate one gummy or two.
For a tincture the equivalent question is what a dropper holds. Canna River's FAQ states plainly that a full dropper is 1 mL, which makes the per-mL figure directly usable.
3. Servings per container
Multiply it by the per-serving amount and you should land back on the total in point 1. If the two don't reconcile, something on the label is rounded or wrong, and that's worth noticing before you buy.
4. Spectrum type and labeled THC
Full spectrum, broad spectrum and isolate are not interchangeable, and the THC figure is the part that matters for anyone who gets drug tested. The federal definition of hemp at 7 U.S.C. § 1639o caps delta-9 THC at 0.3 percent on a dry weight basis — a limit on the material, not a statement about any product's dose. Canna River's Full Spectrum products print the per-serving amount: 2 mg delta-9 THC per mL in the 60 mL tinctures, 3 mg per gummy, 2 mg per softgel. More on what the non-THC label rests on in what "Non-THC" means.
5. The carrier and the rest of the ingredient list
The cannabinoid is a small fraction of what's in the bottle. Everything else is the carrier and the format: MCT oil in a tincture or softgel, pectin and sugar in a gummy, an oil-and-wax base or a water-based emulsion in a topical. If a label names a distillate and an isolate, the formula was built to hit an exact number — see distillate vs isolate.
6. The batch or lot code
A certificate of analysis is only meaningful if it covers the thing in your hand. That means a code printed on your package that matches an entry in the brand's report library, not a generic "lab tested" badge or a QR code pointing at a marketing page. Canna River prints a batch ID on the package and lists reports by that ID; see how to find the COA for your batch.
7. Price per milligram, which you have to work out yourself
No label prints it. Divide the price by the total milligrams from point 1. It is the only figure that lets you compare a 30-count gummy bottle to a 120 mL tincture honestly.
The arithmetic, worked through
| Step | Classic Tincture, 30 mL | Classic Gummies, 30 count |
|---|---|---|
| Total CBD on the label | 3,000 mg | 3,000 mg (100 mg × 30) |
| Serving | 1 mL (a full dropper) | 1 gummy |
| CBD per serving | 100 mg | 100 mg |
| Servings per container | 30 | 30 |
| Price | $40 | $35 |
| Price per serving | $1.33 | $1.17 |
| Price per mg | 1.33¢ | 1.17¢ |
Two products with the same total CBD and the same per-serving amount, 14 percent apart on price. That difference is invisible if you only read the front of the package. The same method across the whole range is in CBD price per milligram.
Three places the comparison breaks
- Per-bottle totals against per-serving amounts. A 20,000 mg bottle is not twenty times stronger than a 1,000 mg one if it is also eight times larger. Convert to mg per mL or mg per unit first.
- Multi-cannabinoid totals counted as CBD. A gummy listing 50 mg CBD, 25 mg CBN and 25 mg CBG has 100 mg of cannabinoids and 50 mg of CBD. Both numbers are honest; only one answers "how much CBD".
- Label figure against measured figure. They are not the same number. Forbes Health's independent testing of Canna River's Calm gummies found 42.7 mg of CBD per gummy against a 50 mg label, and similar gaps in both directions across the other products it tested. Batch variation is normal; it is also why the batch-specific report in point 6 matters more than the printed figure.
Frequently asked questions
Why don't CBD products have Supplement Facts panels?
Because FDA has concluded CBD products are excluded from the dietary supplement definition under section 201(ff)(3)(B) of the FD&C Act. Without supplement status, the panel requirements in 21 CFR 101.36 don't apply.
Does "full spectrum" mean stronger?
No. It describes what's in the extract, not how much. A broad spectrum and a full spectrum version of the same Canna River product carry identical cannabinoid amounts and identical prices; the difference is the THC.
What does 0.3 percent THC actually mean in milligrams?
It depends entirely on the weight of the product, which is why the figure is close to useless for comparing finished goods. Use the per-serving THC amount the label prints instead.
Is a QR code on the box the same as a COA?
Only if it resolves to a report for your batch code. A code that opens a product page or a generic "test results" page tells you nothing about what you bought.
What's the fastest single check?
Total cannabinoids divided by price. If a brand makes that hard to calculate from the label alone, that is itself the answer.
Canna River products are intended for adults 21 and over. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat or cure any disease.
