Britain is moving toward its first authorizations of CBD foods after a six-year regulatory process, but the approvals could have a limited life as the country prepares to align its food-safety system with the European Union.
The UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) is recommending approval of three applications covering roughly 3,000 products. The agency’s board is scheduled to consider the recommendations tomorrow (Sept. 16), after which they would go to ministers in England and Wales for final authorization. Scotland is considering the applications separately.
First in line
The applications come from Chanelle McCoy CBD Ltd., Cannaray Brands Ltd. and EIHA Projects GmbH, the consortium established by the European Industrial Hemp Association (EIHA). All three have completed safety assessments and public consultation.
The EIHA application is the largest, representing thousands of products from companies that shared the costs of toxicology studies and the novel-food application process.
EU rules loom
The products would operate under the FSA’s provisional acceptable daily intake of 10 milligrams of CBD for an adult. The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) this year set a much lower provisional level, equivalent to roughly 2 mg daily for a 70-kilogram adult.
That difference could become critical under Britain’s planned sanitary and phytosanitary agreement with the EU. If novel foods are included without an exception, existing British authorizations would cease to apply and future CBD approvals would fall under EU rules.
The UK government is working toward implementation of the agreement in 2027, potentially leaving companies that spent years pursuing British authorization facing another regulatory transition soon after reaching the finish line.