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FSA adds thousands of additional CBD products to public list

Home » FSA adds thousands of additional CBD products to public list

Following backlash from the industry, close to 2,500 products have been added to the Food Standards Agency’s public list which grants preliminary approval for CBD products that meet the regulator’s criteria.

The UK’s Food Standards Agency (FSA) has added a further 2,446 CBD products to its public list bringing the total number of products with preliminary approval to just under 6,000. The release of the list is a key step in the UK’s push to become the world’s first regulated CBD market.

Initially published at the end of March this year, the FSA’s list faced criticism for excluding several brands that many believed should be permitted to produce and sell their products. Amongst the companies that failed to make the cut on the original list included Cellular Goods, a publically listed CBD company. Its CEO Anna Chokina said the company was “disappointed by the FSA’s stance”. Cellular Goods has since halted sales of its ingestible range.

According to the FSA, the publicising of the list in March prompted companies to come forward with new evidence. The regulator said that over 1700 of the new items added to the list were granted preliminary approval after receiving further evidence from businesses that their products met the appropriate criteria. Approximately 700 products were added to correct a clerical error which the FSA apologised for in a statement yesterday.

This is one of two updates to the public list that will occur before 30 June 2022. Following this date, the FSA said no new products will be added and the only updates made after this point will be to announce the status of the products in its novel foods authorisation process.

“Compiling the public list has been a huge undertaking,” said Rebecca Sudworth, director of policy at the FSA. “Most additions to the public list are because businesses did not supply us with the correct information before March 31.

“We are urging any CBD businesses with evidence they have that links their products to credible applications to send it to us as soon as possible”

Earlier this week, the FSA announced that the deadline for businesses to submit their novel food applications would be extended to 26 May 2022, which the regulator referred to as a “final call” for businesses to provide evidence. “We will not be accepting evidence for products to be included on the public list after this date,” Sudworth said.

The FSA advised that businesses that wish to provide evidence for their products can provide evidence of studies they have commissioned, either before or after the deadline for applications in March 2021. The evidence of commissioning must be submitted before 26 May, Sudworth said.

CBD was designated as a ‘novel food’ in January 2019, meaning that the compound could no longer be included in food or food supplements unless approved by the Food Standards Agency. The application process has since received significant criticism from parts of the industry for producing a state of limbo across the sector while retailers and CBD producers waited for the FSA’s list to be published.

Raj Grover, CEO at High Tide, commented: “With the release of the Food Standards Agency’s cannabidiol (CBD)-containing foods list, the United Kingdom is making meaningful moves toward establishing a safe, transparent and regulated CBD industry.

“The UK and greater European market are part of our ongoing strategy to diversify our revenue base by identifying opportunities and filling gaps in international cannabis markets through the organic expansion of our brands and products. For example, the German market that is poised to make up half of the EU cannabis market by 2024, according to Prohibition Partners.

“Our CBD business lines provide us with high-margin sales opportunities that allow us to further expand market share in our core business of brick-and-mortar cannabis sales by enhancing our consolidated margin profile.

“We look forward to full-scale inclusion and full regulatory registration in the UK market within the coming year.”

CEO of Medical Marijuana Inc., Blake Schroeder, added: “We are proud to be among the very first to have our products recognized on the FSA list of products. Publicly releasing this list of products like ours that have been submitted applications for novel food registration in the UK is just the first step the FSA must take to create a fully-regulated industry.

“Providing safe, free access to CBD around the world is our main goal and we know that our products will be used as examples of the high-quality standards other manufacturers should be following.”

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