The chief executive of the Food Standards Agency (FSA) has laid out the Agency’s approach to regulating CBD, bringing the industry into compliance with the need for CBD to go through an FSA safety assessment.

Speaking at an FSA Board meeting, CEO Emily Miles said that the CBD industry and retailers need to market products responsibly. Miles also offered support to local authorities if they need to increase their enforcement efforts on CBD food products in the coming months.

According to FSA, there are currently no CBD food products on the market that have been through the mandatory safety assessment and been authorised for sale. The CBD public list will be updated shortly and will be a public record of products where credible applications for market authorisation have been made to FSA. Over the next few months, local authorities and retailers in England and Wales will be able to use the list to check the status of CBD food products and prioritise enforcement where necessary.

“Act responsibly”

Miles said: “My message to the CBD industry, and to retailers, is that you need to act responsibly when marketing and selling these products. And my message to local authorities is that, as products are rejected from our market authorisation process, you may need to step up enforcement efforts. The FSA will support you in this process.”

Speaking on behalf of the Board, Professor Susan Jebb, chair of FSA said: “The FSA has a duty to protect consumers. I want to take this opportunity to ask people to think carefully before taking CBD and to follow the FSA’s advice about CBD products. The FSA will not hesitate to take action if evidence emerges that products are unsafe and consumers at great risk.”