We get asked this in the shop all the time, often by someone holding a 2500mg bottle and wondering how many drops counts as “a dose”. In the UK the answer starts with the Food Standards Agency, so that’s where we’ll start too.
What the FSA says
The FSA’s advice is that healthy adults shouldn’t take more than 10mg of CBD a day. If you’re pregnant, breastfeeding or on any medication, they say not to take it at all unless your doctor has said it’s OK. This covers anything you swallow: oils, gummies, drinks and edibles.
The number on the bottle isn’t per serving
This catches a lot of people out. The 500mg or 1200mg on the label is how much CBD is in the whole bottle or jar. To know what you’re actually taking, you need the amount in each drop or each gummy.
Oils
A 10ml bottle gives you roughly 200 drops. Droppers aren’t all the same, so treat these as ballpark figures:
| Bottle strength (10ml) | CBD per drop (approx.) | Drops for 10mg (approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| 500mg (5%) | 2.5mg | 4 drops |
| 1000mg (10%) | 5mg | 2 drops |
| 2500mg (25%) | 12.5mg | One drop is already over 10mg |
| 3500mg (35%) | 17.5mg | One drop is already over 10mg |
| 5000mg (50%) | 25mg | One drop is already over 10mg |
So if you want to keep to 10mg, a 500mg or 1000mg oil is much easier to work with. With the stronger oils, a single drop takes you past it.
Gummies
These are simpler because each gummy has a fixed amount. It should be printed on the label, or you can divide the jar total by the number of gummies. Worth checking before you buy, as plenty of gummies are over 10mg each.
A couple of practical points
If you use more than one CBD product, say an oil in the morning and a gummy later on, add them together. The 10mg is a daily total, not per product.
And buy from somewhere that can show you a lab report. If the CBD content hasn’t been tested, the mg on the label doesn’t tell you much. That’s why most of our product pages have a “View lab report” link.
What about creams and balms?
The FSA advice doesn’t cover them. Creams and balms go on your skin and are sold as cosmetics, so there’s no daily mg figure. Just use them as the label says.
Still not sure which strength to go for? Pop into the shop in the Stables Market and we’ll go through it with you, or have a look at our oils and gummies online.
General information only, not medical advice. Our CBD products are food supplements or cosmetics, not medicines, and aren’t intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Speak to your GP or pharmacist first if you’re pregnant, breastfeeding or take any medication.
