Buffalo shop creates CBD-infused wing sauce just in time for the Super Bowl
BUFFALO, NY — A Buffalo shop has introduced a new product that is sure to make your Super Bowl party more interesting.
It’s a wing sauce infused with CBD (cannabidiol), a byproduct of cannabis.
The sauce, informally dubbed “Phrank’s Dank Hot Sauce,” can be found at Bison Botanics, a CBD shop in the Buffalo suburb of Kenmore.
Because the sale of food or beverages containing CBD is technically illegal in New York, Bison Botanics is offering the sauce in 8-ounce “sample” sizes in return for a donation.
Money raised will benefit the western New York chapter of NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws).
“It’s something we’ve been talking about for a while,” said Justin Schultz, who runs Bison Botanics with his partner, Mike Andrews.
“It’s just something fun, and with the Super Bowl coming up its seemed like the perfect time.”
Phrank’s Dank is “a typical Buffalo bar medium-to-hot sauce,” Schultz said.
The 8-ounce size is just right for “two pounds or 24 wings,” he said.
At that rate, each wing would contain no more than 10 miligrams of CBD, Schultz said.
CBD is a naturally-occurring compound extracted from the flowers and buds of the two forms of the cannabis plant — marijuana and hemp. It does not contain significant amounts of THC, the psychoactive substance in marijuana.
“You don’t get high from CBD,” Schultz noted.
CBD is touted for its therapeutic properties, such as relieving inflammation, pain and anxiety.
Some of its health claims — such as preventing seizures — have more scientific evidence behind them than others (like inhibiting cancer.) CBD’s availability exploded in the past year or so, accelerated by the 2018 federal farm bill, which legalized the farming of hemp (but not marijuana).
While CBD is legal when sold in ointments or salves, and some dietary supplements, its presence in food or beverages is clouded in uncertainty and confusion.
In New York, the state Agriculture Markets issued an advisory last summer declaring CBD to be illegal in food and drink, using U.
S. Federal Drug Administration rulings as a guide.
In December, Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a new law that sets out procedures for the licensing of industrial hemp growers and extract manufacturers and establishes what are likely the nation’s strictest testing and labeling requirements.
That law did not clear up the status of CBD in food, so it remains illegal.
Schultz hopes his shop’s launch of the CBD-infused wing sauce samples can help move government officials toward legalizing edible and drinkable CBD products.
He think New York officials are open to discussing the issue.
“A year ago they might not have worked with us on this,” he said.
“Now I think they might work with us to make sure it’s done the right way, ensuring safety and quality.”
Bison Botanics is located at 1100 Military Road in Kenmore.
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— New law clarifies CBD rules, but not for food and drink
— Is edible CBD legal? No, but it’s still hazy
— Secret chicken wings of CNY (Part 2)
Don Cazentre writes for NYup.com, syracuse.
com and The Post-Standard. Reach him at dcazentre@nyup.
com, or follow him at NYup.com, on Twitter or Facebook.
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