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Which CBD drinks meet the FSA’s new safety standards?

12 October 2023 By Jessica Mason

The Food Standards Agency’s maximum recommended amount of CBD has changed from 70mg to 10mg. Which drinks meet the grade? db finds out.

The concerns follow the FSA cutting the recommended maximum amount of cannabidiol (CBD) that people should consume to no more than 10mg of CBD per day after finding evidence of adverse health effects on the liver and thyroid.

The FSA has now issued new precautionary advice on CBD, recommending healthy adults should look at limiting their consumption of CBD from food to 10mg per day, which is about four to five drops of 5% oil.

Looking at which CBD drinks contain the highest amounts of CBD, many drinks brands across the US and UK in particular contain more than the advised 10mg.

For instance, brands such as Goodrays contains 30mg per serving, while Trip has 15mg and Brulo CBD non-alcoholic IPA contains 35mg.

Little Rick contains 30mg of CBD and Dram 25mg, while Sprig contains 20mg. Jeng contains 11mg of CBD and Cannabrew contains the advised 10mg and the Cann brand contains 2mg of THC and 4mg of CBD.

Back in February 2020, reports stated that the FSA published consumer advice in which recommended that healthy adults not take more than 70mg of CBD per day, or about 28 drops of 5% CDB, but had also warned that this “doesn’t mean that these levels are definitely safe, but that the evidence we have suggests adverse health effects could potentially be seen above this”.

Despite this, since then, two independent science committees that advise the FSA – the Committee on Toxicity (COT) and the Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes, have reviewed the safety evidence submitted by the CBD industry.

The FSA has said there was no “acute safety risk” by consuming more than 10mg of CBD a day based on available data, but it has outlined that above this level and over a period of time, there was evidence of some adverse impacts on the liver and thyroid, with the higher the dose and the more often it is consumed increasing the risks.

While some CBD drinks brands currently on the market contain more than 10mg of CBD per serving, the FSA has said it would work with the industry to “agree a way forward” on what happens next.

FSA chief scientific advisor Professor Robin May, revealed in reports: “Our independent advisory committees have 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.”

FSA chief executive Emily Miles added: “We understand that this change to our advice will have implications for products currently on the market that contain more than 10mg of CBD per serving. We will be working closely with industry to minimise the risk so that consumers are not exposed to potentially harmful levels of CBD.”

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