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13 October 2023

FSA reduces recommended CBD dosage due to long-term health risks

FSA reduces recommended CBD dosage due to long-term health risks

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has reduced the recommended daily dose of cannabidiol (CBD) due to concerns about liver damage and thyroid problems. The FSA now recommends healthy adults limit their consumption of CBD in food to 10mg per day, which is roughly equivalent to four or five drops of 5% CBD oil. The UK food regulators said that the new advice – which reduces the recommended maximum dosage from 70mg to 10mg – was based on evidence provided by both the industry and its independent scientific committee. The updated advice has been based on the average lifetime exposure to CBD-containing food products, such as drinks, oils, sweets, bakery items or drops. The FSA said there is "no acute risk" with consuming more than 10mg of CBD a day based on the data it had assessed. However, above this level, and over a period of time, "there is evidence of some adverse impacts on the liver and thyroid". The risk of experiencing adverse health effects rises with higher and more frequent doses. Robin May, chief scientific advisor at the FSA, said: “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". He continued: “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.” Emily Miles, CEO of the FSA, added: “We have always advised the public to think carefully about taking edible CBD products and as with all foods, we continue to review our advice based on the evidence we gather from industry". “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, to ensure consumers are not exposed to potentially harmful levels of CBD.”

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