Novel Food Application

Novel Food Application and EIHA Consortium

Hemp Point and its parent company Kraeuterland Ltd TA Hanfosan are now members of the European Industrial Hemp Association (EIHA) and Partners in the EIHA Novel Foods Consortium.

The EIHA Novel Food Consortium applications have passed FSA administrative check. This means that both regular/full-spectrum and natural isolate products of EIHA consortium partners can remain for sale in the UK market.

“In its press release dated 23 March 2021, EIHA informed its members that the UK FSA has confirmed that both applications for the regular/full-spectrum and the natural isolate products were considered to be compliant with the administrative requirements. By granting the pre-validation status, the FSA recognises and supports the strong will of the hemp sector, and particularly of the EIHA Consortium, to evaluate and determine the safety levels of its novel food products. However, the official validation will be granted only upon results of the undergoing toxicological studies on both CBD and THC, expected in the forthcoming months.”

CBD is on the rise in the UK. CBD product use has grown significantly in the UK since 2019. A YouGov poll provided insight into CBD usage and awareness in the UK population. It revealed that 71% of respondents were aware of CBD and 16% of them had already purchased a CBD product. “However, when it came to consumer confidence in CBD products, the results were not positive”

Only 29% of respondents felt confident that CBD products were labelled correctly and properly tested, while 45% said they were NOT confident.

This poll demonstrated that consumers have a clear view regarding regulation of CBD; they want to see it, so the UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) can be assured that they have consumer support for the new measures they have introduced.

Novel food authorisation application legal requirement:

The UK Government FSA have announced that all companies selling CBD products in the UK after 31/03/2021, must have submitted a valid novel food authorisation application.

This will allow their products to legally remain on sale after this date. Any company not complying with these regulations will have their products removed from sale.