UK food regulators have slashed the recommended safe daily dose of cannabidiol (CBD), a cannabis extract present in thousands of high street products from muffins to coffees, citing a risk of liver damage and thyroid issues.
In a surprise reversal of previous official guidance, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and its Scottish counterpart have updated their advice on what was once hailed as a wonder ingredient. They are now recommending healthy adults limit their intake of CBD from food to 10mg per day, which equates to four or five drops of 5% CBD oil.
Previous advice, dating from 2020, set the limit much higher at 70mg per 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,” said professor Robin May, the FSA’s chief scientific advisor.
May suggested consumers check the labels of the products they use and consider heeding the new advice. “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.”
The gear change, the FSA said, was based on new evidence from the industry as well as input from its independent scientific committee.
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RESEARCH PROJECT
Analysis of CBD Products
The Food Standards Agency commissioned Fera Science Ltd. to carry out a survey to obtain a snapshot of CBD products on sale in England and Wales in order to inform FSA risk assessment of CBD products.
