CBD Supplements Safety: EU Two Years Behind UK

Earlier this month, EFSA “stopped the clock” on the 19 CBD novel food applications it has received until data gaps on health risks associated with the ingredient are addressed. (Also see "EU CBD Novel Food Applications On Hold As EFSA Considers Health Risks" - HBW Insight, 15 June, 2022.)

The decision to pause applications followed a literature review by EFSA’s Panel on Nutrition, Novel Foods and Food Allergens (NDA), which identified “significant” potential adverse effects relating to a number of human systems, including liver, gastrointestinal tract, endocrine system, nervous system, psychological well-being and reproduction.

Meanwhile, in the UK, the government’s Committee on Toxicity (COT) in 2020 reviewed the evidence on CBD food products, and, like EFSA, agreed that there were “insufficient data to undertake a provisional risk assessment as it was not possible to determine a reliable point of departure.”

However, based on data submitted to the US Food and Drug Administration and the European Medical Agency for the approval of GW Pharmaceuticals’ CBD-based Rx epilepsy drug, Epidiolex, COT drew some “general conclusions” about CBD’s safety.

Observable adverse effects from CBD exposure of humans included liver injury at a dose of ≤ 5mg/kg body weight (bw)/day, as well as reproductive toxicity observed in laboratory animals treated with CBD as well developmental effects in the offspring