opinion that the legitimacy of cannabis extracts as food
supplements is secure with the correct legal challenge
and it’s an opinion shared by counsel.”
In a press release, London-based Aztec CBD said:
“The reclassification applies specifically to CBD in food
that is ingested orally. This affects all CBD products that
are ingested orally like oils, cookies, lollies, cakes etcetera.
CBD e-liquids are not a novel food and have nothing to do
with this reclassification, therefore the sales and distribution
of e-liquids will not be affected in any way.”
Meanwhile, the Cannabis Trades Association said:
“Our position remains unchanged. Our members’ products
remain legal, will not be removed from sale and, as the
largest association of our kind in the world, any member
receiving unlawful requests from any Trading Standards or
Food Standards officer suggesting their products are not
fully legal will be met with a direct legal response to the
local authority as soon as our member makes us aware.”
And Lancaster-based CBD Hemporium said: “Whilst we
understand there must be legitimate concerns for
regulators with the explosion of the CBD industry,
we remain deeply alarmed at the prospect of EFSA’s
categorisation of cannabinoid extracts as novel foods
being fully enacted by FSA without it seems any proper
consultation with industry. It seems to us this represents
the perfect timing for regulators to pro-actively work with
the industry to achieve these measures and support a
flourishing industry, not use novel food legislation to halt
the industry putting many businesses, jobs and people’s
wellbeing at risk.”
“Some companies, wrongly,
assumed that since hemp oil
was not considered to be novel
that the same assessment would
apply to CBD extract.”
“Whilst we accept that the Novel Food Catalogue is not
legally binding and only serves as a guidance document
for Food Business Operators (FBOs) and regulatory agencies,
this should be seen as the default position for all member
states.
“FBOs may assume placing products on the market with a
natural concentration of Cannabidiol are hence compliant
with the European guidance.”
The association also pointed out that last year, the World
Health Organization, in its final critical review acknowledged:
“CBD should not be scheduled within the international drug
control conventions … There are no case reports of abuse
or dependence relating to the use of pure CBD. No public
health problems have been associated with CBD use.
CBD has been found to be generally well tolerated with
a good safety profile. CBD alone produced no significant
psychoactive, cardiovascular or other effects.”
In its CBD and Cannabis Novel Foods White Paper 2019,
British Cannabis spokesperson Tom Whettem wrote: “It’s
a case of history repeating itself, when the MHRA tried
to impose a blanket ban on CBD back in 2016 … It’s my
Social media also erupted to the news. In one Tweet,
BNatural CBD UK wrote: “This is an utter joke. I’m not
sure how much evidence you need? WHO have deemed
CBD as safe and you’ve had a report from the EIHA saying
it’s safe. You know as well as the rest of the industry knows
how safe this is.”
– The Government
VAPOUROUND CBD MAGAZINE
17