Thursday, March 28, 2024

700 products added to FSA public list correcting ‘clerical error’

Of the 2,446 new CBD products added to today’s update of the Food Standards Agency (FSA)’s public list, 700 had been omitted owing to a clerical error, the independent government department has admitted. That represents over 11% of the total, current list.

A further 1,700 additions were for products relating to applications which had been submitted to the FSA in time for its deadline, but which “required further evidence from businesses to ensure the products met the public list criteria,” according to a statement from the FSA.

Today’s additions, plus the original 3,536 products published in the March version of the list, bring the total number of products on the public list to 5,982. These CBD products may legally stay on sale in the UK while they continue through the FSA’s authorisation process for novel foods.

The vast majority of the products are listed under ‘awaiting evidence’. One new manufacturer has been added to the ‘validated’ list, bringing the total back to six. In February there were six, which reduced to five in March (with the removal of Rokshaw). Now 12 cbdMD products are also included.

In a new development, the list now includes a section of ‘removed’ products. There are 35 listed, from brands including Vitality CBD and Charlotte’s Web.

A second update is planned to be published by the end of June.

Rebecca Sudworth, FSA director of policy, comments, “Compiling the public list has been a huge undertaking. Most additions to the public list are because businesses did not supply us with the correct information before March 31. We apologise for the small number of omissions from the original list that were the result of clerical errors. These products have now been added.

“We are urging any CBD businesses with evidence they have that links their products to credible applications to send it to us as soon as possible, but no later than 26 May 2022 for consideration.

“We will not be accepting evidence for products to be included on the public list after this date. Businesses that wish to supply evidence for their products for possible inclusion on the public list can also provide evidence of studies they have commissioned, for example toxicological studies. These can have been commissioned either before or after the deadline for applications in March 2021, and the evidence of commissioning must be submitted before 26 May.”

The FSA states that local authorities and retailers can contact the agency to clarify the status of a product not on the list, and that it is “continuing to accept other CBD novel food applications, but products connected to these applications should not be put on sale until they have completed the safety assessment process and secured authorisation – which is normal for a food that is genuinely novel to the UK diet.” 

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