FSA Makes New Statement Regarding CBD EU Novel Food Status

The FSA Has Made A New Statement Regarding CBD EU Novel Food Status

The European Commission just added a new amendment to its novel food catalog. This statement regarding the CBD EU novel food status, while not an official ruling, does indicate that they want to pursue further testing on CBD before officially accepting it to the market.

If you would like to look at these statements yourself, click here. After clicking the link, search for cannabidiol or cannabinoids to read the latest updates.

Once a product has been declared as a novel food, authorities must examine the history of the item and the current research surrounding its health effects. If the newly announced novel product, was not a common food or supplement ingredient before May 15, 1997, then it undergoes a safety assessment.

The UK FSA is seizing this opportunity to try and remove CBD from commercial sale until a final verdict has been reached. This could make CBD unavailable to consumers for up to 18 months, and potentially prevent independent distributors from selling CBD in the future. This would deny access of CBD to the 300,000+ UK citizens that rely on the many CBD oil benefits.

Let’s look at the reasoning behind the FSA investigation.

1. The FSA states that CBD does not have a track record of human use.

The CBD oil for sale includes non-psychoactive compounds derived from cannabis hemp. Cannabis products have been used for over 5000 years. Much of this use was medicinal in nature. Despite its widespread cultivation and ingestion, there is no evidence that it is possible to overdose on cannabis compounds.

2. The FSA insists that CBD needs to be researched more to prove its safety profile.

If the fact that a cannabis overdose is statistically impossible isn’t enough to prove CBD’s safety, then we can turn to other leading authorities for their opinions. First, the United States has had a patent on CBD since 2003 that states that this product is non-toxic even when a massive CBD oil dosage is taken. Second, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has allowed Olympic athletes to implement the use of CBD. Finally, the World Health Organization (WHO) has stated that CBD is “well tolerated, with a good safety profile.”

The research is well established. It is evident that CBD is both safe and has been used widely throughout human history. CBD is a vital alternative treatment.
Why Does the FSA Really Want to Restrict Access to Cannabidiol?

Money and archaic policies.

The global CBD market is expected to reach a value of £1.6 billion by 2020. With independent distributors dominating the scene, the central government doesn’t stand to make as much profit.

Also, the threat of a temporary CBD ban could be generated by the prohibitionary mindset that authorities are still in. Up until the 1930s, cannabis medicines were widely available. At this time, the United States spearheaded a worldwide ban on cannabis shortly before big pharma took over the health market. As research continues to validate the ancient health uses of cannabis and hemp, these mindless restrictions need to be lifted. If not, patients who are genuinely in need of this medicinal plant will likely turn to the black market.

Luckily, some parties are taking action against this new classification of CBD as a novel food. The UK Center for Medicinal Cannabis (CMC) has already reached out to the FSA. They are offering to assist in the regulation of CBD “while not impacting responsible CBD suppliers who offer a valuable service to a significant number of UK consumers deriving health benefits from these products.” The CMC has already begun to draft a policy report that accurately depicts the UK CBD market in an attempt to hasten or bypass the temporary CBD ban.

In the meantime, we will continue to offer our top-shelf CBD Guru products. We are here for our loyal customers and have your best interests at heart. We will continue providing this powerful natural alternative as long as we are able.