How to eat hemp seeds
Updated: 21 October 2026
You have a bag of hemp seeds for breakfast, and the next question is where it goes once the seal is broken. How to eat hemp seeds, on this page, means a sprinkle, a blend, or a bake, then a cool sealed tub. It is not a ranking of the 11 amazon.co.uk listings, and it is not a method for sowing or making CBD oil. The rows sit in our [hemp seeds comparison](/hub/herb-seeds/hemp-seeds). Prices are from the amazon.co.uk scrape on 19 October 2026. Peter F. did not lab-test them. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
You have a bag of hemp seeds for breakfast, and the next question is where it goes once the seal is broken. How to eat hemp seeds, on this page, means a sprinkle, a blend, or a bake, then a cool sealed tub.
You have a bag of hemp seeds for breakfast, and the next question is where it goes once the seal is broken. How to eat hemp seeds, on this page, means a sprinkle, a blend, or a bake, then a cool sealed tub. It is not a ranking of the 11 amazon.co.uk listings, and it is not a method for sowing or making CBD oil. The rows sit in our hemp seeds comparison. Prices are from the amazon.co.uk scrape on 19 October 2026. Peter F. did not lab-test them. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Our top picks
| Badge | Product | Cut | Resealable claim | Stated weight | Note | Price | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall |  Gorilla Food Co. Gorilla Food Co. hulled hemp seeds 400 g | Hulled | n/a | 400 g | 8.1 | about £9.95 | View offer |
 Sevenhills Wholefoods Sevenhills organic shelled hemp seeds 1 kg x 2 | Hulled | Resealable pouch claimed | 2 kg | 8.6 | about £39.98 | View offer | |
| Alternative |  Biona Biona organic whole hemp seeds | Whole | Not resealable, in reviews | 250 g on the technical line | 8.2 | about £14.06 | View offer |
On this page
Sprinkle, blend, or bake
Hulled seeds in this set are sold ready to eat from the pack. Porridge or yoghurt takes a spoon of hearts, and you do not cook them first. A smoothie is the other everyday use: hulled seed blends into a drink you can finish without a sieve. Whole seed is the crunchy cut. Busy Beans' 1 kg and Biona's organic whole hemp suit a salad, granola, or crackers. Tip whole seed into a breakfast smoothie and you will chew shell.
A portion is printed on the brand, not on the law
There is no single UK spoon weight that every bag must follow. Linwoods' shelled-hemp guidance, repeated on Tesco's page for its 200 g pack, says add 20 g, about two dessertspoonfuls. On that table, 20 g is about 121 kcal and about 6.7 g of protein. Per 100 g the same brand publishes about 33 g of protein, 51 g of fat, and 7.5 g of omega-3. Those numbers belong to Linwoods shelled hemp. Another seller's table will differ, so you read the pack in your hand. That 20 g line does not cover whole seed, and it is a poor rule if the seed is most of the meal.
After you open the bag
Fat is why storage is part of eating the seed. Linwoods says refrigerate its shelled hemp after opening and use it within 45 days, and before the best-before date. Grape Tree's wider line is airtight, cool, and out of sunlight. If your pouch prints a shorter line, follow the packet you bought. A sharp or bitter smell is the stop. If the bag was not resealable, decant it the same day. Sevenhills claims a resealable pouch. One Biona review says the bag cannot be closed.
Shells, split packs, and the wrong product
On Sevenhills' 2 kg listing, several of the first 50 reviews report shells, while others praise a clean bag. Shells in a shelled bag are a fault in that delivery, not a third cut. One of three captured Busy Beans reviews says the inner packet was split and seed was loose in the carton. Linwoods Multiboost is milled hemp with flax and chia, at £10.77, and it will not sprinkle like hearts. If a mouth or throat reacts after a spoon, stop and get medical help. Nothing here says a hemp breakfast cannot show on a workplace drug test, and nothing here says that it will.
Food, not a plant and not CBD oil
These listings are food. Separated hemp seed sits outside cannabis in section 37 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. The Food Standards Agency lists hemp seeds and the usual seed products as not novel. CBD extracts are an unauthorised novel food. A pouch of hearts is not a stand-in for CBD oil. Growing the plant needs a Home Office licence. The 0.2 percent figure in the licensing factsheet is a crop threshold, not a THC allowance in the porridge.
Common questions
Can you eat hemp seeds raw?
Yes for the hulled bags in this set. They are sold as a ready sprinkle, and you do not have to toast them first. Whole seed from Busy Beans or Biona is also food, with the shell still on, when you want crunch. Raw does not mean the bag is for sowing, and it does not mean an open pouch can sit in a warm cupboard for months.
How much is a sprinkle?
Linwoods prints 20 g, about two dessertspoonfuls, with about 121 kcal and 6.7 g of protein on that brand's table. Tesco repeats the 20 g line for a Linwoods 200 g pack. That is one label, not a legal portion. A reviewer using 20 to 30 g a day on Everyday Superfood's 190 g unit would finish it in about a week. Read the panel on your own bag if you are counting the spoon.
Should the open bag go in the fridge?
Linwoods says refrigerate its shelled hemp after opening and use it within 45 days, and before the best-before date. A tighter household rule, from guides such as Thames Organic, is an opaque sealed tub in the fridge or freezer for both cuts. If the pouch is not resealable, use a jar the same day. Sevenhills claims a resealable pouch. A Biona review says that bag does not close.
What if the seeds smell sharp?
Stop. A sharp or bitter smell means the oils have turned, and hiding the seed in a bake does not fix it. The same stop applies to hulled and whole seed. Smell the first spoon when a parcel has been warm, and again if a split pack, like the one described on Busy Beans, has left seed loose in the carton.
What if a shelled bag has shells in it?
Shells in a bag sold as shelled are a fault in that delivery, not a new cut. Sevenhills' file includes both shell complaints and clean-bag praise, so one bad spoon does not describe every order. Pick out a few stray pieces. A pouch that is mostly shell is a reason to change listing.
Are they the same as CBD oil?
No. The Food Standards Agency lists hemp seeds and hemp seed oil as foods that are not novel. CBD extracts are an unauthorised novel food, with separate adult advice. A sprinkle does not replace a CBD product. This comparison does not claim that any listing is THC-free or safe for a workplace drug test. Growing the seed is a licensed activity, and this page gives no sowing steps.
Related pages
Sources
Public UK sources named below. amazon.co.uk prices, stars and review counts on these eleven listings were read on 19 October 2026. Page updated 21 October 2026.
- Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, section 37 (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- GOV.UK industrial hemp licensing (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- Industrial hemp licensing factsheet (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- GOV.UK cannabidiol (CBD) guidance (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- THC safe upper limit, lay summary (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001, regulation 2 (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- GOV.UK organic food labelling rules (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- Linwoods shelled hemp nutrition (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- EU Regulation 2022/1393 on THC in hemp seed (retrieved 19 October 2026)