Hemp seed oil and CBD oil are different products. Hemp seed oil is a food oil pressed from the seeds of the plant, and it contains almost no CBD. CBD oil contains cannabidiol (CBD) extracted from other parts of the plant, and in Australia it is a prescription medicine.1
What is the difference between hemp seed oil and CBD oil?
| Hemp seed oil | CBD oil | |
|---|---|---|
| Made from | Seeds, by cold pressing1 | An extract of other parts of the plant2 |
| CBD content | 75 mg/kg or less (a trace)1 | CBD is the active ingredient |
| Legal status | Food. No prescription needed3 | Prescription medicine (Schedule 4)1 |
| Where it is sold | Shops that sell food | Pharmacies, on prescription |
| Claims allowed | No CBD claims, no health claims about CBD3 | Cannot be advertised to the public at all4 |
The Poisons Standard, which sets the legal class of medicines and poisons, defines hemp seed oil as oil “obtained by cold expression from the ripened fruits (seeds) of Cannabis sativa”.1 The seeds themselves make very little CBD. The CBD in a medicine comes from an extract of the rest of the plant.
The Office of Drug Control (ODC), the federal body that licenses cannabis, puts it this way: “Only the seeds of the hemp plant can be used for human consumption - extracts from the remainder of the plant are considered a drug.”2
How much CBD is in hemp seed oil?
Very little. As of November 2026, the Poisons Standard exempts hemp seed oil from its cannabis, CBD and THC entries only if it contains:
- 75 mg/kg or less of CBD, and
- 10 mg/kg or less of THC.1
The Food Standards Code sets the same ceilings for hemp seed oil sold as food: no more than 75 mg/kg of CBD in any food, and no more than 10 mg/kg of THC in hemp seed oil.3
A limit of 75 mg/kg works out to 0.0075 per cent. A whole kilogram of oil at the legal maximum would hold 75 mg of CBD.
When Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) surveyed hemp foods collected in 2019 and 2021, every product met the CBD limit and 96 per cent met the THC limits.5
The old figures you may still see
Some articles say the hemp seed oil limits are 50 mg/kg of total cannabinoids and 20 mg/kg of THC. Those figures applied after 2016 and have since been replaced. The current instrument reads 75 mg/kg of CBD and 10 mg/kg of THC.61 We could not confirm the date the figures changed.
Is “hemp oil” the same as hemp seed oil?
Not always, and this is where most confusion starts. The ODC uses “hemp oil” to mean something else: “an extract of a plant in the genus Cannabis” that “usually contains THC and CBD in excess of the threshold amounts”. It says hemp oil “is not to be confused with” hemp seed oil.2
In everyday use, shops and websites often shorten “hemp seed oil” to “hemp oil”. Others use “hemp oil” or “hemp extract” for products that contain CBD. The name on the front of a bottle does not tell you which one you have. The ingredient list and the stated CBD content do.
A product sold in Australia without a prescription that claims a meaningful amount of CBD is not a hemp seed food. Anything above 75 mg/kg of CBD falls into the medicine schedules, and supplying it without a prescription is unlawful.1 See buying CBD online in Australia for how the law treats these products.
Can hemp seed oil do what CBD oil is claimed to do?
There is no basis to expect it to. The trials that tested CBD used doses from 20 mg a day up to more than 1,000 mg a day, and an Australian review of oral doses up to 400 mg a day found benefits more clearly evident only at 300 mg a day or more.7 At the legal maximum, you would need to swallow more than a kilogram of hemp seed oil to reach even 100 mg of CBD.
Food law reflects this. A hemp food label must not make a nutrition content claim or a health claim about CBD, and must not suggest the food has a psychoactive effect.3
This page does not assess hemp seed oil as a food. It is sold as a cooking and salad oil, and whether its fats are good for you is a nutrition question outside what we cover. See hemp foods in Australia for the food rules.
For what trials have found about CBD itself, see how we grade the evidence and the CBD dosage guide.
How can you tell which one you are looking at?
- Check where it is sold. CBD oil is lawfully supplied in Australia only on prescription, through a pharmacy. Hemp seed oil is sold wherever food is sold.
- Read the ingredient. “Hemp seed oil” or “Cannabis sativa seed oil” means the pressed seed oil.
- Look for a CBD amount. A lawful hemp seed food cannot make claims about CBD.3 A label promising hundreds or thousands of milligrams of CBD describes a different product.
- Be wary of imports. Border rules allow hemp seed oil with up to 50 mg/kg of THC to be imported, but the Poisons Standard and the Food Standards Code allow only 10 mg/kg. A product can clear the border and still break poisons or food law.21
Overseas, unregulated CBD products are often inaccurately labelled. In one United States study of 84 CBD products bought online, only about 31 per cent contained the amount of CBD on the label.8 See is what is on the label in the bottle?
Does the same rule apply to pet products and skincare?
The same seed oil turns up in pet supplements and cosmetics, and the same confusion follows it. See CBD for pets in Australia and hemp and CBD in skincare and cosmetics.
Footnotes
-
Australian Government. Therapeutic Goods (Poisons Standard, October 2026) Instrument 2026, Schedule 4 cannabidiol entry and hemp seed oil definition. https://www.legislation.gov.au/F2026L01327/asmade/2026-09-30/text/original/pdf ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9
-
Office of Drug Control. Information on hemp products, hemp oil and hemp seed oil. https://www.odc.gov.au/node/1372 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4
-
Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code, Standard 1.4.4, Prohibited and restricted plants and fungi (compilation in force 12 November 2017). https://www.legislation.gov.au/F2015L00416/2017-11-12/2017-11-12/text/original/epub/OEBPS/document_1/document_1.html ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5
-
Therapeutic Goods Administration. Advertising guidance for businesses involved with medicinal cannabis products, December 2023. https://www.tga.gov.au/sites/default/files/2023-12/advertising-guidance-businesses-medicinal-cannabis-products.docx ↩
-
Food Standards Australia New Zealand. Survey of low-THC hemp seed foods. https://www.foodstandards.gov.au/science-data/monitoring-safety/survey-of-low-THC-hemp-seed-foods ↩
-
Therapeutic Goods Administration. Document released under FOI 26-2886 (scheduling history of cannabis, CBD and THC), 2026. https://www.tga.gov.au/sites/default/files/2026-06/FOI%2026-2886.PDF ↩
-
Arnold JC, McCartney D, Suraev A, McGregor IS. The safety and efficacy of low oral doses of cannabidiol. Clinical and Translational Science, 2023. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36259271/ ↩
-
Bonn-Miller MO and others. Labeling accuracy of cannabidiol extracts sold online. JAMA, 2017. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2661569 ↩
Common questions
Is hemp seed oil the same as CBD oil?
No. Hemp seed oil is cold-pressed from the seeds of the plant and is sold as a food. CBD oil contains cannabidiol taken from other parts of the plant and is a prescription medicine in Australia. Lawful hemp seed oil may contain no more than 75 mg of CBD per kilogram, which is a trace.
Does hemp seed oil contain CBD?
Only a trace. The Poisons Standard and the Food Standards Code both cap CBD in hemp seed oil at 75 mg per kilogram, which is 0.0075 per cent. In a Food Standards Australia New Zealand survey, every hemp food product tested met the CBD limit.
Is hemp oil from the supermarket any use for anxiety or pain?
There is no basis to expect so. The trials that tested CBD used tens to hundreds of milligrams a day, and a kilogram of lawful hemp seed oil holds at most 75 mg. Food law also bans health claims about CBD on hemp foods.
Why do some products say hemp oil or hemp extract instead of CBD?
The words are not used consistently. The Office of Drug Control says hemp oil is a plant extract that usually contains THC and CBD above the legal thresholds, and that it should not be confused with hemp seed oil. If a product claims to contain a meaningful amount of CBD, it is not a hemp seed food, whatever the label calls it.
This page is general information, not medical or legal advice. Laws and evidence change; we show the date we last checked the facts at the top of every page. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist before starting, stopping or changing any medicine.
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