The Food Standards Agency (FSA) and Food Standards Scotland (FSS) have issued new precautionary advice on cannabidiol (CBD), recommending daily consumption should be limited to 10mg.

Previously, the daily recommended intake was 70mg – now, it has been reduced to 10mg, or 4-5 drops of 5% CBD oil.

The change in advice was based on new evidence from the industry and updated advice from FSS and FSA’s independent scientific committees.

FSA and FSS said that based on current data there was “no acute safety risk” with consuming more than 10mg of CBD a day, but there was evidence of “some adverse impacts on the liver and thyroid if consumed chronically”.

It continues to be advised that vulnerable people, such as people on medication or those who are pregnant, do not take CBD.

Acquiring novel food status

CBD food products do not have a significant history of consumption in the UK or EU prior to the 15th May 1997 and are therefore considered novel foods, regulated under Regulation (EU) 2015/2283.

Novel foods require pre-market safety assessment and authorisation by Ministers before they can be legally placed on the market. The novel food status of CBD extracts was confirmed in January 2019.

No CBD products have been authorised as novel foods in Scotland or Great Britain (GB), however FSS is aware various CBD food products, including drops, supplements and beverages, are available to consumers and it is appropriate to issue updated advice based on the latest scientific evidence.

The updated advice was based on the average lifetime exposure to food products containing CBD, such as drinks, oils, sweets, bakery items or drops.

Regulating daily intake

The FSA and FSS warned that some products available on the market will have a higher dose of CBD per serving than 10mg a day, and as such consumers should check labels and consider their daily intake in light of this updated advice.

FSS director of policy and science, Garry Mournian, said: “We have always advised the public to think carefully about taking edible CBD products and, as with all foods, we continue to review our advice based on the evidence we gather from industry.

“Our independent advisory committee has reviewed the safety assessments submitted by the industry as part of their novel food applications and we are advising that healthy adults should take no more than 10mg of CBD a day.

“The more CBD you consume over your lifetime, the more likely you are to develop long-term adverse effects, like liver damage or thyroid issues. The level of risk is related to how much you take, in the same way it is with some other potentially harmful products such as alcoholic drinks.

“We encourage consumers to check the CBD content on the product label to monitor their overall daily consumption of CBD and consider if they wish to make changes to how much they take based on this updated advice.”