California AB 45: Hemp THC Limits, Testing, and CDPH Rules

California AB 45, signed by Governor Newsom on October 6, 2021, ended the state’s prohibition on hemp-derived cannabinoids in food, beverages, dietary supplements, and cosmetics, and set up the registration, testing, and labeling system that governs those products today.¹ Before the law, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) treated ingredients like CBD as adulterants in processed food. AB 45 changed that. But if you are looking at the statute in 2025, you also need to know that AB 8, signed October 2, 2025, moved every intoxicating hemp product out of general retail and into the licensed cannabis system, so the AB 45 framework now applies to non-intoxicating hemp goods only.²

What Products AB 45 Covers

Health and Safety Code Section 111920(g)(1) defines an “industrial hemp product” as a finished product containing industrial hemp in one of five categories: food, food additive, dietary supplement, cosmetic, or herb.³ The product must be intended for human or animal consumption. In practice that covers CBD drinks, hemp extract capsules, topical lotions, and pet treats.

Two limits narrow the scope. “Animal” excludes livestock and food animals defined in Business and Professions Code Section 4825.1, so hemp feed for cattle or poultry is not authorized. No product may contain THC isolate as an ingredient. Items that already have FDA approval or Generally Recognized As Safe designation are outside the chapter entirely.

The statute states that a dietary supplement, food, beverage, cosmetic, or pet food is “not adulterated by the inclusion of industrial hemp,” which prevents local health officials from removing compliant products from shelves based only on the presence of hemp.¹

Synthetic cannabinoids, including compounds like Delta-8 and Delta-10 THC converted from CBD, are prohibited. So is any hemp product exceeding the legal THC concentration or the state’s contaminant limits.

THC Concentration Limits

The rules work on two levels, and the second catches people who assume the federal 0.3 percent number is all they need to hit.

At the raw-extract stage, Health and Safety Code Section 111925 requires manufacturers to prove that hemp extract in its final form does not exceed 0.3 percent total THC concentration.⁴ That mirrors the 2018 Farm Bill threshold.

At the finished-product stage, CDPH’s emergency regulations require that industrial hemp food, beverages, and dietary supplements intended for human consumption contain no detectable THC per serving.⁵ Zero detectable in the serving the consumer actually drinks or swallows, not 0.3 percent of the finished product. Section 111922 gives CDPH authority to set maximum serving sizes, active cannabinoid concentrations per serving, and the number of servings per container.⁶

Testing Every Batch

Every batch of industrial hemp must be tested in raw-extract final form before it goes into a consumer product. Section 111925 requires that testing be performed by an independent laboratory, and the manufacturer must be able to show that total THC does not exceed 0.3 percent.⁴

Contaminant screening follows the cannabis standards. Under Section 111925.4, hemp products must pass the thresholds established for cannabis in Business and Professions Code Section 26100, covering pesticides, heavy metals, residual solvents, microbial impurities, and other harmful substances.¹ A batch that fails cannot be sold or distributed. CDPH may adjust specific contaminant levels by regulation.

The Department of Cannabis Control requires testing laboratories to hold ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation, and labs handling hemp should meet the same benchmark since the contaminant standards are shared.⁷

Registering with CDPH

Manufacturers of hemp food, beverages, dietary supplements, cosmetics, or raw hemp extract must register with CDPH.¹ No industrial hemp product can be distributed or sold in California without documentation that the raw extract meets the THC limit and that the hemp was grown in compliance with California’s Food and Agricultural Code (in-state) or licensed under USDA requirements (out-of-state).⁸

The enrollment application asks for the facility address, all current and proposed hemp sources with business information for each extractor, and registration or license details for every supplier in the chain.⁹ If you source from outside California, you must show that your supplier operates under an industrial hemp program that inspects or regulates hemp under food-safety criteria equivalent to California’s, and that the grower is in good standing where it operates.¹

Labeling and the Certificate of Analysis

Section 111926 requires manufacturers, distributors, and sellers to comply with all state and federal packaging, labeling, and advertising rules.¹⁰ For food, beverages, and dietary supplements, Section 111926.2 requires that the package carry a label, scannable barcode, website link, or QR code linking to a certificate of analysis for the batch. The certificate must show the product name, the manufacturer’s name and contact information, a batch number matching the one on the package, the concentration of cannabinoids including total THC, and contaminant results.¹¹

Three warnings are mandatory on the package:

A statement that children, pregnant individuals, or those breastfeeding should consult a health care professional before using the product.
A statement that products containing cannabinoids should be kept out of reach of children.
The statement “THE FDA HAS NOT EVALUATED THIS PRODUCT FOR SAFETY OR EFFICACY.”

These apply to products manufactured 90 days or more after the section’s enactment. Section 111926.3 imposes parallel certificate-of-analysis requirements for hemp cosmetics, covering the same core information about product identity, cannabinoid concentrations, and contaminants.¹²

Marketing that makes therapeutic or medical claims without FDA authorization remains prohibited under both state and federal law.

What Changed in 2025: AB 8 and SB 378

The AB 45 market filled quickly with high-THC products sold under the “hemp” label at gas stations and smoke shops, sidestepping the testing and taxation that licensed dispensaries follow. AB 8 redrew the line.

Under AB 8, any product containing intoxicating cannabinoids, including THC, must be sold through licensed cannabis dispensaries and is regulated and taxed under the Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act. State and local health agencies can seize and destroy illegal products, and smoke shops selling illicit hemp or cannabis goods risk losing their tobacco retail licenses.²

Traditional hemp products remain in general retail. Pure CBD products, hemp fiber goods, and hemp foods that meet AB 45’s labeling and testing rules can still be sold at grocery stores, health shops, and online retailers without a cannabis license. If a hemp product is designed to intoxicate, it now belongs in the dispensary system. If it is a standard CBD supplement, topical, or food product at compliant THC levels, AB 45 still governs it.

Under AB 45’s original framework, inhalable hemp products (pre-rolls, vape cartridges, and loose flower) were restricted to consumers 21 and older.¹³ AB 8 went further and prohibited the sale of inhalable hemp products containing THC outside the licensed cannabis system.

SB 378, also enacted in 2025, targeted online sales. It bans direct-to-consumer advertising of intoxicating or unregistered hemp products online, requires online marketplaces to post conspicuous disclaimers and build reporting mechanisms for consumers to flag illicit listings, and imposes strict liability on platforms that connect consumers with sellers of intoxicating hemp products for damages the consumer suffers.

Enforcement

AB 45 gives CDPH authority to cap THC concentrations, set serving-size limits, and otherwise regulate hemp products at the product level.⁴ Products that fail testing or violate labeling rules can be seized. Since AB 8, state and local health agencies can seize and destroy illegal products directly, and retailers selling illicit hemp goods risk losing their tobacco retail licenses.²

1
California Legislative Information. AB-45 Industrial Hemp Products
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Assembly Member Aguiar-Curry. AB 8 Becomes Law to Protect Public Health and Regulate the Hemp Market
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California Legislative Information. California Health and Safety Code HSC 111920
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California Legislative Information. California Health and Safety Code HSC 111925
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California Department of Public Health. DPH-24-005 Emergency and Regular Rulemaking Regulation for Industrial Hemp
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California Legislative Information. California Health and Safety Code HSC 111922
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Department of Cannabis Control. Testing Laboratories
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California Legislative Information. California Health and Safety Code HSC 111921
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New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. 17 California Code of Regulations 23220 – Industrial Hemp Enrollment and Oversight Authorization Application
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California Legislative Information. California Health and Safety Code HSC 111926
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California Legislative Information. California Health and Safety Code HSC 111926.2
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California Legislative Information. California Health and Safety Code HSC 111926.3
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California Legislative Information. California Health and Safety Code HSC 111929