WQAD TV 8
August 10, 2004

Popularity of hemp products on the rise

ACEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — It can't be grown legally in the U-S, but you can wear it and eat it. It's hemp, a cousin of marijuana. And, the popularity of food and beauty products made with hemp is growing.

Donna Dolan is a corporate dietitian for Hy-Vee Foods. She says Iowa's largest grocery chain started a few years ago with only one or two items made from hemp. Now it carries a growing number of products, including cereal, granola, waffles and even ice cream.

Industrial hemp in food doesn't have the potency of marijuana plants cultivated for illegal drug use. A federal appeals court approved the use of hemp in food earlier this year, comparing it to opiates in poppy seeds.

Hemp can't be grown legally in the U-S, so companies import their supplies from Canada.

Copyright 2004 Associated Press.