Holland & Barrett Oxford Circus

The health food retailer said the temporary measure had been made ‘in an abundance of caution’

Holland & Barrett has removed CBD products from sale where “customers cannot choose to only use 10mg a day” following the FSA’s decision to slash its recommended daily maximum dosage of the product.

The health food retailer said the temporary measure had been made “in an abundance of caution” to ensure it was giving its customers “the latest guidance on safe usage of these products for short and long-term use”.

A spokesperson for Holland & Barrett said: “We are reviewing the latest voluntary guidance from the FSA on the recommended daily dose for ingestible CBD products. Whilst it remains legal for these products to remain on sale, we are acting in an abundance of caution and are temporarily withdrawing some products where customers cannot choose to only use 10mg a day.

“This is a temporary measure so we can make sure we are giving our customers the latest guidance across our website product descriptions, and to make sure our colleagues have received revised training to be able to answer customer questions on this.

“We are committed to working with the FSA and the wider industry to share safety data as the FSA continue to develop their thinking on this topic.”

The Grocer understands products which have been removed from sale include canned CBD drinks where a single serving measure would exceed 10mg of the substance, as well as gummies where a single sweet would represent more than the daily recommended maximum dosage.

At the time of writing, products including CBDfx gummies – which contain 25mg per sweet – and drinks from Trip – which have 15mg of CBD per 250ml can – could not be purchased on the retailer’s website.

The Grocer has approached affected brands for comment.

In total, 31 products have been removed from sale online and in store, Holland & Barrett said.

Approached by The Grocer, other retailers including Tesco and Waitrose referred to the British Retail Consortium, which said its members would ”follow any and all FSA advice on the sale of products containing CBD oil, and take their obligations around these products very seriously”.

It comes after the FSA on Thursday cut the recommended maximum dosage of CBD from 70mg to 10mg, citing evidence that prolonged usage of CBD products over this strength could have “adverse impacts on the liver and thyroid”.