Is this the end for Full Spectrum CBD?

As the final date for the finished Food Standards Agency’s Novel Foods Catalogue grows nearer, many CBD companies (and CBD products) are looking like they may not make it onto the guest list.

This could not only be devastating for the companies that miss out (for one reason or another), but this could also be the end for some quality CBD products.

Here are a few Questions and Answers regarding CBD and the Novel Foods changes.

What is the Novel Food Catalogue?

The Novel Food Catalogue is a list of animal and plant products (and other substances), subject to the Novel Food Regulation, based on information provided by the EU Member States (under the guidance from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).

Although no longer part or the EU, the UK still has to comply with the FSA Novel Food guidance. The FSA are an independent government department working to protect public health and consumers' wider interests in relation to food in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (Scotland comes under its own department, the Food Standards Scotland (FSS).

What is a Novel Food?

Novel Food is defined as food that had not been consumed to a significant degree by humans in the EU before 15 May 1997, when the first Regulation on novel food came into force.

'Novel Food' can be newly developed, innovative food, food produced using new technologies and production processes, as well as food which is or has been traditionally eaten outside of the EU.

The underlying principles underpinning Novel Food in the European Union are that Novel Foods must be:

• Safe for consumers.

• Properly labelled, so as not to mislead consumers.

• If novel food is intended to replace another food, it must not differ in a way that the consumption of the Novel Food would be nutritionally disadvantageous for the consumer.

Novel foods, like CBD food products, must be authorised before they are put on the market to ensure they have been through an independent safety assessment. Applications for authorisation of CBD food products are required as these products are considered a novel food having no history of consumption before May 1997. FSA Website 2022

The main argument from the FSA (and EFSA), is that CBD was clearly consumed prior to May 1997, but not extracted from the RAW plant using modern extraction methods like CO2*. It is this extraction method that make 99% of CBD products novel.

*CO2 extraction uses pressurized carbon dioxide to “pull” naturally occurring phytocompounds (including cannabinoids and terpenes) from raw hemp plant material. In the end, CBD oils made using CO2 extraction have a healthy-looking amber color to them – verifying a full spectrum of beneficial hemp compounds.

What is Full Spectrum CBD?

Full Spectrum CBD Oil is by-far, the most complete CBD Oil available. This CBD Oil contains every single Cannabinoid that would normally be in the raw plant. It also contains all the natural Terpenes (smell compounds) and all the natural Flavonoids (taste compounds), and because it contains all of these original elements, it creates what is known as "the Entourage Effect"

Full Spectrum CBD Oils are as close to the natural plant as is physically possible. Super-rich in all of the major Cannabinoids like CBD, CBDA, CBG, CBC and THC, it also contains all the other natural Phytocannabinoids, Terpenes, Flavonoids and Essential Fatty Acids.

What is the "Entourage Effect"?

The Entourage Effect is where each Cannabinoid comes together in such a way that it amplifies all the effects of the other Cannabinoids. One of the main results of the Entourage Effect is that it can create what is known as "Homeostasis" in the Human body. This is where the body becomes completely balanced. All the body's natural mental and physical systems return the body back to their optimal state. When this happens, the body repairs itself a lot better and you start to feel a better sense of well-being and health.

Is Full Spectrum CBD Oil legal in the UK?

Yes, it is 100% legal providing the THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol) is below the UK legal limit of 1mg/container.

Will Full Spectrum CBD get me high?

No, all our Full Spectrum CBD Oil products are below the required legal 1mg limit and will not get you high or make you fail a drugs test.

Why is Full Spectrum CBD looking like it may become banned?

The main reason that Full Spectrum CBD may become banned in the future is because a "true" Full Spectrum CBD product, will contain some THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol). THC is the part of the Cannabis plant that gives you the "high". 99.99% of lab-tested UK CBD products (at present),  contain such small amounts that they would have zero psychoactive effect on the human brain at all. Taken in the recommended amounts, they would also not make you fail a drugs test.

The UK legal limit for THC is currently set at 1mg/container. This can be confusing as a gel capsules could be classed as the "container", and so could the jar of 60 x capsules?

The Home Office set this figure of 1mg/container. 1mg/container e.g. a 10ml bottle of Full Spectrum CBD oil, would not get you high. Even if you swallowed it all in one go.

MP Kit Malthouse recently asked that all CBD products that contained any THC be removed from sale. This would mean that ALL Full Spectrum CBD products would be banned in the UK. Note: There are also foods like hemp seed oil, as well as pasta, seeds, bread, cereals, energy drinks and diet supplements, that also contain trace levels of THC.

Many UK CBD companies do have their own opinion on why Full Spectrum (if not all CBD) products may become a thing of the past (or at least require a prescription), is that the government never really gave CBD much credit. CBD is quite a new product and has only really been on the shelves (and online) since around 2015-2016. The government would only credit CBD as a "food supplement" and didn't expect that so many people would see such extreme effects that they were coming off prescription medication. It was only a matter of time before the powers-to-be realised that they were missing out on a lot of revenue. Is this why all these new changes are coming into effect? We'll maybe never know.

The argument is that CBD (or at least extracted CBD products using CO2 extraction etc), were not around before 1977 but things like "Cold Pressed" CBD has been around since time began and records show CBD use in China as early as 6000 BCE, and the number of cases of anyone dying from taking CBD is ZERO. That really says enough about the safety of CBD.

Final Thought:  In 2019 in the UK, there were over half a million deaths from heart disease. Many of these deaths were down to poor diets and unhealthy lifestyles. Many were also due to things like excessive salts, sugars and fats, but when was the last time the government tried to ban any of these items? Maybe they want customers, not cures?