CBD Oil And The Novel Food Regulations 2021
It is essential to understand the nuances of the UK market when it comes to specific products. A lot of people are focused on edible CBD products and it is important to analyse what the Food Standards Agency in the UK has to declare about CBD oil.
In general, the core argument here has to do with what the UK government believes is legitimate and illegitimate in the world of CBD.
This is still a grey-area industry that has been making the rounds in the UK. There is some apprehension among politicians and that is where this latest declaration came where it was deemed all CBD products including CBD oil had to go through additional verification based on the established "Novel Food" guidelines.
Here is a deeper look into what this means heading into 2021 for CBD oil products.
What are Novel Foods?
Let's begin by understanding why this tag is being used for CBD oil and other similar products.
The premise behind novel food guidelines in the UK has to do with rigorous testing that each edible item goes through before it is ready to be sold.
If an edible item is cited under this particular category, the testing is rigorous. This is why CBD products will now have to go through additional testing that wasn't required beforehand.
The reason it wasn't required had to do with CBD products being sold before the novel food guidelines were instituted by the UK government. However, they have taken their time to analyse what CBD products are all about and believe it is important for this type of testing to be done.
Impact of Novel Food Guidelines on CBD Oil
The guidelines are going to have a short-term impact in 2021 because most are going to be under scrutiny. The FSA is going to put each CBD product through various tests to make sure everything is valid.
This is also going to include the extraction methods that are being employed by CBD companies.
The industry is going to take a hit but it should be better off as time goes on.
Inherent Concerns with CBD
One of the main concerns that have been making the rounds would involve the narcotics tag that was being put forward for all CBD products.
In this case, that would mean CBD oil that was sold legally would be deemed illegal by the FSA. This is something no one wanted to see happen and they have decided to steer clear of that sort of ban for now.
However, the government does believe the testing has to continue as cited by the novel food guidelines.
Continued Testing
The testing is expected to take quite a bit of time to complete especially due to the surge of CBD products that have hit the market in recent times.
Most professionals believe this is going to be a prolonged process that is going to take at least 12-24 months before the CBD products can be sold again.
This is going to impact the business and customers for a while. However, the UK government believes this type of rigorous testing is going to bode well for the market's future and how diligent companies are before selling products through retail platforms.
Prolonged Period of Testing in 2021
It is expected for all of the products that are currently sold on the open market to go through rigorous testing again.
This has to do with them being sold without any guidance beforehand. Instead of going through the novel foods guidelines, most of these CBD products including CBD oil were being sold without relevant testing. This is where the UK government wants to step in.
To do this, they have set a deadline for all CBD products that will conclude March 31st, 2021.
Anything that is not presented to the FSA before this mark is going to be deemed illegal and can't go through further testing. As a result, companies are scrambling to make sure their CBD oil and other related products are going through to the testing phase as required to sell.
Final Thoughts
It is a tough spot for all parties to be in and that is where the UK government is trending as of right now. One of the bigger victories that have come during this phase involves the narcotics ban that was cited earlier during the process.
In this case, companies are still going to have the opportunity to move forward with selling their CBD oil and CBD products at a fair rate.
Otherwise, they would have had to wrap up operations because it would be deemed illegal to sell CBD in the nation.
However, as of right now testing is continuing on the products and it might be a delayed process due to the number of products and depth of testing in the UK.
Wishing you all the best and More Life.
Boat & Mane CBD Team