Warning over food with cannabis extracts

Pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers and people taking medication should not eat foods containing an ingredient derived from the cannabis plant, a regulator has warned.

In its first-ever safety advice to consumers on CBD (cannabidiol) products, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) also cautions others who might eat such foods not to have more than 70mg a day.

And in a warning to CBD businesses, the regulator said goods could be taken off the shelves if those in the industry fail to give more information about the safety and contents

“The CBD industry must provide more information”

of their products by the end of March next year.

Producers are being asked to apply to the FSA for “novel food authorisation” which, the agency said, will reassure the public about the safety of CBD products.

Extracts of CBD, a chemical found naturally within the cannabis plant, are contained in a range of products including oils, confectionery and drinks.

FSA chief executive Emily Miles said while such products are “widely available on the high street” they are not properly authorised.

“The CBD industry must provide more information about the safety and contents of these products to the regulator before March 31 2021, or the products will be taken off the shelves,” she said.

“Also today, we are advising that CBD could be risky for vulnerable groups and suggesting an upper limit of 70mg a day for everyone else taking the product.

“The actions that we’re taking today are a pragmatic and proportionate step.”

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