Conference on Hemp Products and Animal Health ? Project Summary/Abstract Project Director: Tong Wang, Professor, Food Science, University of Tennessee, 2510 River Drive, Knoxville, TN 37996-4539, Ph 865-974-7279; twang46@utk.edu; Co-PD: David White, Associate Dean of AgResearch (dwhite25@utk.edu, 865-974-5980) We propose to host a conference on Hemp Products and Animal Health at University of Tennessee Conference Center in fall 2020 or early spring 2021. This will be a 2.5-day conference with sessions on (1) Hemp 101: Production, processing of CBD oil, grain hemp, quality control; (2) Basic biological functions; (3) CBD/THC?s health impact on large/small/meat animals (brain, food intake, GI health, inflammation, etc); and (4) Regulation on federal and local levels for feed and health supplements. About 25 speakers who are leaders of scientific community and local and federal governmental agencies have been invited to present at the conference. Hemp is a rapidly growing industry. However, there are much less information on many fronts of the science such as CBD?s processing, product quality, bioactivity in animals of various types, and global and strategic views and directions to pursue. Grain hemp has been promoted as an alternative protein and oil crop for human and as feed ingredients. However, their use in animal feed is not authorized. Pet foods or feed that contain CBD must be regarded as adulterated. These are all because of the unknown nature of these products. A thorough search on similar conference and subjects during the last 3 years did not reveal any. There have been numerous Expos on upstream production and products that are oriented toward producers. There are only a few in-depth scientific talks from some scientific meetings, such as the 2019 Atlantic Veterinary Conference held on Oct 14-17. The objectives of this conference are (1) to bring key scientists across multiple disciplines together to discuss the current state of the science of hemp products, such as CBD, terpenes, and hemp grain proteins on health of animals including pets, recreational breeds, and those raised for meat production; and (2) to identify future research and development directions through the connections we will make and a better understanding of the regulatory issues. The outcomes of this conference will yield a coordinated blueprint outlining future research and regulatory needs and provide FDA, industry and academia a much-needed public-private consortium whose focus will be synchronizing resources to fill in missing data gaps surrounding the safe and efficacious use of hemp products in companion and food producing animals.
We plan to host a conference on Hemp Products and Animal Health at University of Tennessee Conference Center. This unique scientific meeting will bring together experts from various disciplines to discuss the current state of science and future research and regulatory needs and action. The conference will provide a blueprint outlining future effort to establish public-private collaboration to synchronize resources and fill the gaps surrounding the safety and efficacy of hemp products. ?The conference plan and proposal narrative will appear later in the document? 1
