Due to consumer safety fears, the U.K.’s Food Standards Agency (FSA) has pulled nearly 100 cannabidiol (CBD) products from store shelves.
Currently, the FSA offers a public list of nearly 12,000 products accepted for review. This list was created earlier in 2022 and is in the preliminary stage of approving new (or “novel”) foods.
According to a summary of the removals, published by BusinessCann, it’s clear the FSA has been eliminating products from March to September. Many of these are CBD products.
Similar to the United States, the UK’s CBD market is in a legal gray area. When U.S. manufacturers desire to sell within the country, they must first pass these FSA protocols – ensuring their products don’t put people at risk.
If a product is removed from this list, it will no longer be allowed for sale in the United Kingdom.
Unfortunately, the FSA does not provide the public with reasons for the disqualification of products. Though, we do know that these decisions are based on toxicology and other technical benchmarks.
Furthermore, the FSA has claimed that some products are removed from the public list simply due to duplication or at the request of applicants.
Still, some speculate some products are removed simply due to dosage. The U.K’s recommended dose is around 75 mg. If you’re familiar with the U.S.’s CBD market space, then you already know many products exceed that dosage.
Still, this system has not been met without its complaints. Some stakeholders have complained that many of the products under review were not on the market as of February 13th, 2020. This is a preliminary requirement for the review process.
The European CBD Market, More Difficult to Reach Than it Should Be
As we’ve seen, many cannabis companies have their eyes set on Europe. And the CBD sector is no stranger to this desire. In fact, some analysts predict the United Kingdom CBD market can reach $1 billion within the next few years.
However, this FSA review process is causing a headache for CBD manufacturers. Beyond the fact that the FSA isn’t clear about its guidelines, the whole process is extremely slow. With reviews taking up to 2 years to occur.
Due to stakeholder complaints, the FDA did ramp up the review process to a one-year application window. However, this brought more products to their list than they could handle— ultimately quadrupling applications from 3,536 to 12,118.
Of this number, only a handful of products have been moved past the first stage of FSA review. And as mentioned, nearly 100 have been removed—some of which come from top U.S. brands, such as Charlotte’s Web.
If a product is removed, the FSA does allow brands to resubmit applications through regular novel foods. However, as you can imagine, this process is also lengthy.
The unfortunate truth is the markets in Europe and the United States are very different—though, in minor detail. For example, CBD products are approved nationwide in America as long as they contain less than 0.3% tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). In Europe, the THC limit on these products is 0.2%.
Such minor differences make it difficult for U.S. brands (who’ve developed products under U.S. guidelines) to just ship their products to Europe.
Furthermore, since the U.S. CBD market is not regulated, it leaves the FSA in a state where they must speculate on the safety of these products. Until the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) takes a stand on CBD regulations, chances are this process will only continue to be a headache for CBD brands.
