The UK’s Food Standards Agency (FSA) and Food Standards Scotland have updated their advice on maximum daily cannabidiol (CBD) consumption – and it’s quite a drop.
Cannabidiol is already in wide use as a supplement in foods the UK. CBD is a non-intoxicating cannabinoid with health and wellness applications – although many of its claimed benefits are yet to be scientifically proven. Something in CBD’s favour is its relatively good safety profile based on short term use. But what about longer-term use?
Back in 2020, the FSA published consumer advice recommending healthy adults not take more than 70 mg of CBD per day. The FSA now says a healthy adult should not consume more than 10 mg of CBD per day. So, what has triggered this change in advice?
It’s based on a review of new evidence by the FSA’s independent scientific committees: the Committee on Toxicity (COT) and the Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes (ACNFP). The evidence was submitted by the CBD industry as part of their novel foods applications.
“While the ACNFP/COT advice is based on a specific subset of CBD products, the FSA has taken the view that it is appropriate to make a recommendation on all CBD products as a precaution, to give maximum clarity to the public,” says the Agency.
FSA notes that based on data assessed to date, there is no acute safety risk associated with consuming more than 10 mg of CBD a day. But beyond this level and over a period of time, there is evidence of some adverse impacts on the liver and thyroid the agency says.
The new advice will have implications for products currently available containing more than 10mg of CBD per serving.
Commenting on the situation, the Association for the Cannabinoid Industry (ACI) says its scientific panel is examining the evidence released in order to better understand how the FSA has arrived at its conclusion.
“We will make further comments once our experts have completed their review.”
ACI submitted a complete toxicological package to the FSA in November last year to support its members’ novel food applications. “Novel food” applies to any food not used for human consumption to a significant degree within the United Kingdom or the European Union before 15 May 1997.
