EMPE USA Review

Written by Tyler Swell — Edited by Cathy Rozyczko on February 9, 2021

EMPE USA provides a broad selection of CBD offerings, including a whopping 16 options of CBD gummies. The brand claims their products come from hemp that is grown and harvested in the USA and are manufactured domestically, but we don’t know their extraction method. While EMPE USA provides cannabinoid profiles for each SKU, they don’t provide tests for contaminants and are in need of some work to rank higher with our methodology.

EMPE USA is based out of Florida, but the EMPE brand also has a UK office. We haven’t found evidence of any European distribution yet, but it’s probably on the horizon. The company says all the right things, that they perform ‘rigorous quality control testing’ and their hemp is grown in the USA. There’s also a claim that their products are certified pure and organic, a common claim in the industry that’s usually unsubstantiated, as is the case here.

There’s no mention of where EMPE’s hemp is grown specifically, nor any process associated with creating the CBD in their products. We see cannabinoid profiles posted for their SKUs that point to CBD isolate being used in all their offerings, including those labelled full spectrum. Obviously, there are a few disconnects and accordingly, we have to withhold both the Quality and Safety Badge until more information can be verified.

Let’s take a look at the EMPE CBD product line. We’ll take you through the options and the points of confusion:

• CBD Gummies – This product category seems to be the EMPE bread and butter — there are 16 options! Priced from $50 to $140, this is one of the most impressive selections we’ve seen. The traditional sour strips, peach rings, gummy worms, etc. have the artificial colors and flavors we’re not surprised by. But we were happy to see vegan options that contain all-natural ingredients. Way to go on this one! However, the product labels and ingredients lists for the gummies get confusing. Most are labelled as ‘CBD,’ but there are a few that are labelled ‘hemp.’ The former lists cannabidiol as an ingredient while the later products list organic hemp oil instead. We thought maybe the ‘hemp’ gummies were infused with full spectrum oil, which would account for the discrepancy, but the CoAs show isolate. Definite clarification needed.
• CBD Tinctures – These range from $40 to $140 and come in three varieties: full spectrum CBD in hempseed oil, CBD isolate with MCT oil, and isolate and hempseed oil. Interestingly, when we checked out the CoAs, the full spectrum tinctures only tested positive for CBD, pointing to an isolate instead of full spectrum oil. What gives?
• CBD Vape Cartridges, Pods, and e-liquids – We’re not down with the ingredients in these, which include PG and artificial flavors. These are common in the industry, but we know of many quality companies that use neither in their formulations. Prices here range from $30 to $45.
• CBD for Pets (each product is $40)
• CBD Liquid Capsules ($120)
• CBD Honey Sticks ($70)
• CBD Pain Relief Lotion – There’s no confusion about this topical — we straight up do not approve. It contains the nasties we call out but don’t freak out about like stearic acid (polysorbate), PG, triethanolamine, and phenoxyethanol. But it also has five different parabens, chemicals known to disrupt endocrine function that most mainstream vendors across industries have already removed. $40 seems a high price to pay for these kind of dangerous ingredients. You decide.

Bottom Line – At the end of the day, there are too many vague aspects about this brand and their CBD products to make us feel comfortable. Non-disclosure can sometimes be an oversight, but it can also point to low quality and a vendor that cannot be trusted. We’re not so sure about EMPE and what they have to offer.