The Food Standards Agency has recommended that ministers authorise the first three cannabidiol (CBD) products as novel foods in Great Britain, in a board paper published on 3 September 2026. The paper, reference FSA 26/09/05, covers three applications for CBD at a purity of at least 98 per cent: one synthetic CBD and two CBD isolates, one of them derived from hemp. The FSA is asking its board, which meets in Swansea on 16 September 2026, to agree the recommendations are suitable to go to ministers in England and Wales, who take the final decision. Food Standards Scotland is running its own process and the Minister for Health in Northern Ireland is being kept informed. Around 3,000 individual CBD products already on sale are linked to these three applications on the FSA public list. No CBD food product has ever been authorised in Great Britain before.
What the FSA is proposing
The recommended conditions of use cover adults only, at a maximum of 10 mg of CBD a day, in line with the provisional acceptable daily intake the FSA already advises. Labels would have to carry warnings against use by under-18s, by people who are pregnant, breastfeeding or trying to conceive, and by people taking medication or who are immunosuppressed. The agency also recommends strict product specifications, including low limits on delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol and other controlled cannabinoids. Its consultation on the three applications ran from 28 August to 19 November 2025 and drew 46 responses, 38 through the form and 8 by email, from 19 individuals and 27 organisations. The FSA reports that 68 per cent of respondents supported the proposals.
What this means for your supplement routine
Nothing changes on the shelf this month. Products linked to the three applications may continue to be sold while ministers decide, and the FSA consumer advice that goes with them, including the 10 mg a day figure and the groups it says should not consume CBD, is unchanged. What would change is the legal footing. An authorisation would move named CBD products out of the public list holding pattern and into the novel foods regime proper, with conditions of use written into law rather than carried as guidance. It is also a reminder that the scope is national: the consultation applied to England, Northern Ireland and Wales, Scotland is deciding separately, and CBD products meeting the terms would move to Northern Ireland under the retail movement scheme. The same UK food supplement rules sit behind every product in the Perqen catalogue.
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Perqen membership costs £4.99 a month or £29.99 a year and unlocks member pricing across the whole catalogue, while non-members can still buy at standard prices. How member pricing works is set out in full on our FAQs page.
This article reports published news and research and is for information only. Food supplements are not a substitute for a varied diet or medical care, and no product mentioned is intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Speak to your GP or pharmacist before changing what you take, especially if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, or taking prescribed medicines.
Sources
- CBD novel food applications: recommendations to ministers on first authorisations, FSA 26/09/05 (Food Standards Agency, 3 September 2026)
- Food Standards Agency Board meeting papers published for September 2026 (Food Standards Agency, 3 September 2026)
- Consultation on applications for authorisation of 3 CBD food products as novel foods (Food Standards Agency, updated 3 September 2026)