Holland and Barrett stock CBD capsules from several different brands. The best priced, and most popular, come from Dutch company Jacob Hooy.
A bottle contains 60 capsules and holds a total of 600mg of CBD. In each capsule, there is 10mg of cannabidiol.
The oil carries hemp paste made from leaves and flowers, giving it a dark, diesel-like appearance. Neither Holland & Barrett or Jacob Hooy state, on their website or packaging, whether the oil inside is full-spectrum or broad-spectrum.
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Contents
Who is Jacob Hooy?
Named for the oldest, traditional pharmacy still trading in Amsterdam, Jacob Hooy bears the prestigious label ‘Purveyors to the Court by Royal Appointment’. For over 250 years they have traded in herbs, spices and oils to achieve their goal of providing good, natural, healthy and honest products. Their CBD range includes 5% CBD oil, hemp tea, capsules and CBD+ coconut oil.
Who are Holland & Barrett?
Holland & Barrett are a well-known high-street brand found in most towns and cities throughout the UK. They refer to themselves as ‘health and wellness retailers’ and stock everything from specialist foods to protein powders and herbal skincare products.
They’ve been trading for more than 145 years and have stores in several other countries, including the Netherlands, Malta, the United Arab Emirates, China and India. While they offer convenient access to a wide range of reasonably priced health products, they have a poor reputation for online customer service.
Third-Party Lab Tests
These aren’t available for any Holland & Barrett CBD products and mark one of the most noticeable differences between them and leading CBD retailers. While I would consider Holland & Barrett to be a trusted brand, anyone selling cannabinoids in any form should be able to produce third party lab tests at the point of sale.
Holland & Barrett have told us (see our Jacob Hooy 5% oil review for more detail) that the extract used in Jacob Hooy products is full-spectrum but they declined to share any evidence of test results. As customers, we are unable to verify the actual amount of CBD and accompanying cannabinoids contained in Jacob Hooy products.
The information provided on the packaging states that the ingredients are:
- Hemp seed oil
- Hemp paste (leaf and flower)
- Vegetarian gastric acid-resistant Capsule: hypromellose, gellan gum
Each capsule contains:
- 10mg CBD in 8 drops of 2.75% Jacob Hooy CBD oil
Ease of Use
Capsules are an easy and discreet way to take hemp oil. They provide a pre-measured amount that can be taken on a journey, in a bag or pocket, with no fear of leaking. You also have the choice of swallowing them with water or breaking them open and holding the oil under your tongue.
I tried taking these both ways and each worked well. They are standard-sized capsules and were easy to take with a small amount of water. They are well sealed but brittle, so I easily released the oil by breaking them between my teeth. While this was no hassle, I think that if I planned on taking the oil sublingually under my tongue, I would just buy drops. If you prefer to buy oil check out our best UK CBD oils list.
Jacob Hooy CBD Capsules Taste
Capsules are an ideal way to take CBD oil if you don’t like its flavour. These have almost no taste at all apart from the mild, mealy note of the Gellan gum capsule. If you break them open, they are earthy, unpleasant and have a bitter aftertaste. The quicker you get the oil under your tongue the more palatable it is.
10mg Capsules Potency/ Effectiveness
With 10mg of CBD in each one, these capsules aren’t the most potent. The gastric resistant shell allows more of the oil to pass through the early stages of digestion, however, when taking the recommended 2 capsules a day I didn’t find them effective.
After a week I switched to chewing the capsules and taking the oil under my tongue. The results were much better, but I found the flavour off-putting. While I didn’t find them useful on their own, they were great when used as an addition to other products.
The best results were when I took a stronger oil under my tongue twice a day and had the capsules handy for when I felt like I needed an extra boost. I also took them with me when I was travelling or in a hurry.
Value for Money
The price of 60 10mg capsules is £34.99, making 1 capsule 58p and 1mg of CBD about 6p. This makes them slightly cheaper than similar strength capsules from Love Hemp or Cibdol.
If you take the maximum recommended daily amount of two capsules (20mg) one bottle will give you enough for 30 days. This makes it a good price for a month’s worth of capsules that are quick and easy to use at home or on the go. If you buy them as an addition to other products they will last even longer.
If there was more information available about the source of the hemp oil and its cannabinoid profile it could make them even better value.
Would I Buy Again?
No, I wouldn’t buy Jacob Hooy CBD capsules again. There were no available lab reports, the favour is off-putting even though and the effects were good. If you want to know which capsules we recommend, check out our best CBD capsules review article and see which have performed best in our testing.
Jacob Hooy 10mg Capsules Scores
