Updated business guidance on cannabidiol (CBD) as a novel food - specific for England and Wales
The UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) has updated its CBD guidance for industry considering a new THC threshold and to encourage businesses to reformulate CBD foods and beverages in a way that improves consumer safety.
FSA has established a safe upper limit for delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) consumed in hemp-derived novel foods of 0.07 milligrams (mg) per day. This corresponds with the provisional acceptable daily intake (ADI) for cannabidiol (CBD) of 10 mg/day, which was established by FSA in 2023.
Although THC is an illegal controlled substance in the UK, it is also accepted as an unavoidable contaminant in hemp-derived CBD products.
The THC safe upper limit was recommended in a joint paper authored by FSA’s Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes and Committee on Toxicity. The safe upper limit of 0.07 mg/day for THC is equivalent to an intake of one microgram (µg) per kilogram (kg) of bodyweight per day in an adult weighing 70 kg.