| For Immediate Release
Friday, September 16, 2005
CONTACT: Adam Eidinger 202-744-2671
Hemp Food Sales Grow 47% Since
Last Year’s Federal Court Victory Over DEA
WASHINGTON, DC —
New market research obtained by Vote Hemp confirms that
in the year since the Hemp Industries Association (HIA)
successfully beat the Drug Enforcement Administration’s
(DEA) attempt to ban nutritious hemp foods, sales of
hemp foods have increased by at least 47% overall. The
sales data was collected by the market research firm
SPINS but under-represents actual sales due to the niche
status of hemp foods. Nevertheless, the SPINS report
shows that hemp food sales grew by at least $1.47 million
to a total of $4.57 million from July 2004 to July 2005.
“Removing the cloud the DEA put on the hemp food
marketplace spurred a surge in the supply and consumption
of healthy omega-3-rich hemp seed in America,”
says David Bronner, Chair of the HIA’s Food and
Oil Committee and President of ALPSNACK/Dr. Bronner’s
Magic Soaps. “By protecting the U.S. market for
hemp foods we’ve experienced growth that is showing
signs of holding up for another year or two.”
“Walk into any health food store
and you’ll find an increasing variety of hemp
foods,” says Alexis Baden-Mayer, Director of Government
Affairs for Vote Hemp. “Americans are looking
for healthy alternative sources of omega-3 to supplement
their diets due to concerns regarding trace mercury
in fish and fish oil supplements. Right now the U.S.
marketplace is supplied by hemp seed grown and processed
in Canada and Europe, but some members of Congress want
to bring hemp farming back to the U.S. The increase
in hemp food sales will only help our view that U.S.
farmers should be able to supply the surging demand.”
At a Capitol Hill lunch on June 23 to
mark the introduction of H.R. 3037, the Industrial Hemp
Farming Act of 2005, about 100 Congressional staff feasted
on Bahama Hempnut Crusted Wild Salmon and Fuji Fennel
Hempseed Salad. The five-course gourmet hemp meal was
prepared by Executive Chef Denis Cicero of the New York
City-based Galaxy Global Eatery.
Hemp Foods are Safe and Nutritious
Hemp seed is one of the most perfect nutritional resources
in all of nature. In addition to its excellent flavor
profile, the seed meat protein supplies all essential
amino acids in an easily digestible form and with a
high protein efficiency ratio. But most importantly,
hemp seed and oil offer high concentrations of the two
essential fatty acids (EFAs) omega-3 and omega-6 in
perfect balance. EFA's are the "good fats"
that doctors recommend as part of a healthy, balanced
diet. This superior nutritional profile makes hemp nut
(shelled seed) and oil ideal for a wide range of functional
food applications and as an effective fatty acid supplement.
Not surprisingly, hemp nut and oil are increasingly
used in natural food products, such as breads, frozen
waffles, cereals, pretzels, nutrition bars, meatless
burgers and salad dressings.
Eating Hemp Food Does Not
Interfere with Workplace Drug-Tests
U.S. hemp food companies voluntarily observe reasonable
THC limits similar to those adopted by European nations
and Canada. These limits protect consumers with a wide
margin of safety from workplace drug-testing interference
(see hemp industry standards regarding trace THC at
http://www.testpledge.com).
The DEA has hypocritically not targeted food manufacturers
for using poppy seeds (in bagels and muffins, for example)
even though they contain far higher levels of trace
opiates. The recently revived global hemp market is
a thriving commercial success. Unfortunately, because
of their paranoia, DEA has confused non-psychoactive
industrial hemp varieties of cannabis with psychoactive
varieties, and thus the U.S. is the only major industrialized
nation to prohibit the growing of industrial hemp.
Beta Sp or DV Cam Video News Release
available upon request.
For more information on industrial hemp,
please visit www.VoteHemp.com, the Web site of Vote
Hemp, a non-profit organization dedicated to the acceptance
of industrial hemp.
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