The new CBD ‘sweet spot’ guidance is welcome, but overdue

Some 18 months ago, the FSA blindsided suppliers and retailers by slashing its recommended acceptable daily intake (ADI) of CBD from 70mg to 10mg a day.

The move sent shockwaves through the category. Holland & Barrett briefly pulled products with more than 10mg of CBD in a single serving from shelves while it assessed the FSA’s claim there was “evidence of some adverse impacts on the liver and thyroid” from consuming products above this level over a prolonged period.

Suppliers always insisted their products remained 100% safe, but expressed frustration that – because of the way the novel foods process works – even if they wanted to reformulate to meet the updated guidance, they were unable to. 

Changing the recipe would have meant breaching the FSA’s own conditions for allowing as-yet unauthorised CBD products to be sold (to make the cut, they had to already be available to buy on or before 13 February 2020). Any changes would have required a fresh novel foods application, fresh evidence submitted to the FSA and potentially dropping to the back of the queue for authorisation.

“I’ve never known an industry where an advisory has come into place, and yet businesses have been prevented from meeting it,” Cary Holmes, CEO at CBD manufacturer Nootro Group told The Grocer at the time. “The FSA has said it is going to work on that, but the two things should have come hand-in-hand.”

Long overdue CBD clarity

This week, the FSA has finally shown brands the way forward, encouraging them to reformulate to meet its guidance on CBD and THC while also remaining on its public list of products permitted to be sold in the UK.

The move would “make it easier for businesses to align with the updated guidance” and “give consumers access to more CBD products that meet the FSA’s advised limits”, the FSA said in a letter to suppliers yesterday (1 July).

The update is welcome, and long overdue. Brands can now proceed with confidence and clarity, having been given the clearest indication yet that 10mg is the sweet spot that will satisfy regulators, retailers – and ultimately consumers – that products are safe for consumption.

Although the advice is not yet mandatory, and the FSA has said it does not intend to remove products that do not dial down their CBD content from its public list, widespread reformulations seem inevitable.

Trip – the UK’s leading CBD drinks brand – hardly shouts the scientific benefits of its 15mg per can dosage from the rooftops. A small recipe tweak should safeguard the brand from any further FSA shenanigans and hopefully make the transition to full authorisation a smooth one. Once it makes the change, it’s likely others will follow. 

FSA working with suppliers

It’s also positive that suppliers appear to have been consulted throughout the process.

“Having been part of the stakeholder process with the FSA, we’re supportive of this change as it’s another positive step towards full market authorisation,” says Goodrays founder Eoin Keenan. The FSA appears to be listening to and engaging with suppliers in a way that was notably absent prior to the bombshell it dropped in 2023.

But despite the positive noises surrounding this week’s announcement, there are still no CBD food and beverage products fully authorised for sale, more than five years after the FSA set out proposals to create a legal market in the UK.

Last year, the FSA insisted it was “broadly in line” with a revised timetable of issuing full authorisations in spring 2025, but we’ve had no update on any CBD novel food applications since last July.

The anxious wait goes on.