CBD food products to remain illegal for three years

Don’t expect to see legal CBD food and drink products before 2023 at the very earliest, a new report from CBD-Intel warns.

The use of CBD as a food ingredient has been on hold since European authorities declared cannabinoids to be “novel” – meaning they have not been consumed in the EU for long enough for safety to be guaranteed.

A further delay occurred when the European Commission began to wonder if they were a food item at all or if they would better fit under the definition of a narcotic as laid out in international treaties.

There is no guarantee that the EC will find in CBD’s favour – meaning it could be that CBD cannot be considered a food by European authorities – and even if it does, no decision is likely to take place until September at the earliest.

Moreover, sources tell CBD-Intel that the quality of applications received to date has been wanting. It is likely, as a result, that many applications will be sent back for further work or turned down out of hand. CBD-Intel explores the full ramifications of this in its new report CBD as a Novel Food: the future for edibles in Europe.

“Ominously, the European Commission has indicated that ‘many’ of the 50+ applications received to date for Novel Food approval have not been of high enough quality, or have not contained sufficient information to be validated or forwarded to the [European Food Safety Authority] EFSA for technical assessment,” say analysts in the exclusive in-depth study of the issues surrounding CBD and novel foods.

Further delays are also expected because CBD and other cannabinoids are unlikely to be treated the same as other novel foods – specifically defined as foods that have not been consumed in significant amounts in Europe before 1997.

It is believed that regulators will be extra-cautious in ensuring the safety of CBD preparations due to its position adjacent to cannabis. This means that they will likely require independent data from manufacturers for each CBD product.

To learn more about the CBD sector and how it is going to be impacted by the decisions surrounding novel foods – including some of the latest market data on CBD food, drink and dietary supplement products – check out CBD-Intel’s newest report, available to buy without a subscription.