A bipartisan bill to establish federal standards for CBD food and beverage products was introduced in the USA last week.
U.S. Representatives Kathleen Rice, Morgan Griffith, Angie Craig and Dan Crenshaw introduced the bill for the “CBD Product Safety and Standardization Act of 2021” in response to the FDA dragging its heels on getting regulations in place.
“CBD products are exploding in popularity, but the lack of federal regulation surrounding them has put consumers at risk and left businesses looking for clarity,” said Representative Rice. “The bipartisan CBD Product Safety and Standardization Act will establish the clear regulatory framework needed to provide stability for business and ensure unsafe products stay off the shelves.”
The bill has support from the Consumer Brands Association and U.S. Hemp Roundtable.
“We strongly support requiring the FDA to regulate hemp extracts like CBD as food and beverage ingredients,” said U.S. Hemp Roundtable’s Jonathan Miller.
However, the organisation said it supported “aspects” of the bill and is keen to work with its sponsors to ensure the legislation “provides the broadest range of protections for hemp extract products for human and animal consumption”.
Many Americans are still unaware there are no FDA regulations in place for cannabidiol and the FDA has stated in the past it needed more data in order to create them. In its Cannabis-Derived Products Data Acceleration Plan (CDP-DAP) released in October, the FDA stated:
“Overall, the growth of the CDP market continues to outpace the growth in the science and our understanding of the public health implications of these products.”
Complicating things is in addition to cannabidiol, other hemp derived cannabinoid markets are growing; particularly delta-8-tetrahydrocannabinol (Delta-8 THC). Others include delta-10 tetrahydrocannabinol (Delta-10 THC), cannabinol (CBN),
tetrahydrocannabivarin (THCV), and cannabigerol (CBG).
But cannabidiol is well-established in the USA and some would argue the agency has had plenty of time and data – more than enough of both to get its act together on CBD specifically – and now needs a really solid push.
The full text of the proposed CBD Product Safety and Standardization Act of 2021 can be viewed here.
