Millions of Britons consume cannabidiol (CBD) every day, whether to boost their concentration or manage conditions such as anxiety, depression and joint pain, or just because it is fashionable. It is so commonplace you can buy “gummies” in Tesco or a fizzy drink in a Waitrose meal deal.
Driven by the consumer craze for wellness and healthy lifestyles, the popularity of CBD products has exploded in recent years, but the burgeoning industry is now under a cloud after UK food regulators slashed the recommended daily intake for adults to just 10mg.
Although the Food Standards Agency (FSA) said there was no requirement to remove products from shelves, or to change labelling, it leaves retailers selling sweets and drinks that contain a lot more than the recommended daily dose in a single serving.
Products that adhered to the watchdog’s previous limit of 70mg had been left in “limbo”, said Marika Graham-Woods, the executive director of the Cannabis Trades Association, with consumers and retailers likely to be “alarmed and confused”. The move could also cause financial headaches for firms as it would probably raise the industry’s risk profile with banks, insurers, advertising channels and investors.
In the updated advice, professor Robin May, the FSA’s chief scientific adviser, said that 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.”
Asked if they had changed their stance on CBD products after the update the supermarkets contacted by the Guardian deferred to the British Retail Consortium. Andrea Martinez-Inchausti, its assistant director of food, said only that: “Retailers will follow any and all FSA advice on the sale of products containing CBD oils, and take their obligations around these products very seriously.”
Despite the uncertainty, analysts do not expect demand for CBD – a cannabinoid that does not leave users stoned and can be sold over the counter – to go away. An estimated 6.5 million Britons now use CBD products, with the market worth about £300m a year, according to the consultancy Prohibition Partners. In three years’ time it estimates that customer base will be 7.3 million.
CBD soft drinks, in particular, have won over consumers who see them as healthier than traditional sugar-laden ones, with brands such as Goodrays and Trip experiencing runaway sales growth.
Eoin Keenan, the founder of London-based Goodrays which is the fastest-growing, said the stricter FSA advice was a “surprise” but it had not had an impact on its sales or relationships with retailers, who include Tesco and Waitrose. A can of its sparkling “passionfruit and pomelo” drink contains 30mg of CBD.
“The reason it was a bit of a surprise is because our supplier’s safety data shows a different recommended daily intake of 70mg and it’s for this exact reason that we chose our supplier,” says Keenan. The new FSA advice was based on analysis of three early market products, he said, adding that “not all CBD is the same”.
The entrepreneur is choosing to see the FSA’s action as a “positive development” for the industry. “The guidance is developing, this is a new market,” he says. “This is a compound that was previously scheduled as a narcotic and now it’s being moved into the mainstream and the wellness sector.”
“We welcome the guidance from the FSA, it means we are moving towards a more regulated market. There’s no change in the legal status of our products and the retailers are well aware of that, and as the FSA said, there is no acute safety risk with consuming more than 10mg of CBD a day.”
The specialist market has been in a state of limbo for some time. Back in 2020, brands were told to apply for FSA authorisation for products before they can be sold legally but it has yet to sign off on a single one.
The watchdog has published a public list of more than 12,000 products that have made credible applications to which consumers can refer; anything not on it had to be withdrawn. Brands can still put in applications for new products but they cannot go on sale until they receive authorisation, which means no products are being launched.
Ben Stevens, the editor of the Business of Cannabis, said there was a “lack of clarity” on the implications of the FSA’s precautionary advice. “It could mean dozens of CBD businesses already struggling to operate in the current climate will now have to reformulate, or at least relabel their products.”
That the FSA’s decision-making was based on toxicological submissions from within the industry also suggested there would be more “bumps in the road” to come, he added.
