European Industrial Hemp Association submits novel foods application to UK Food Standards Authority

Photo © iStockphoto.com/AlenaPaulus

The European Industrial Hemp Association’s (EIHA) Novel Food Consortium has submitted its Novel Foods application to the UK Food Standards Authority (FSA) ahead of the March 31, 2021 deadline. The application covers natural CBD isolate and full spectrum products, and is submitted on behalf of the consortium’s 183 member businesses.

As part of the application, the consortium provides FSA with a toxicological studies package that focuses on evaluating the safety of its products. It has also strengthened its application further by offering more comprehensive data on six years of stability tests that support the analytical profile and stability of its members’ products. EIHA has assessed that an individual company would have to invest between £300,000 and £450,000 in order to register a single product under the Novel Foods guidelines. EIHA Novel Foods Consortium reduces this cost substantially and will invest £3 million to finance all relevant toxicological studies on CBD and THC as part of its Novel Food applications.

“Consumer safety and product quality are front-of-mind at HempFlax and we are immensely proud to have partaken in EIHA’s Novel Food Consortium alongside over 180 of our peers in the European hemp sector, many of which are SMEs that would be unable to afford the application’s costs alone,” said Mark Reinders, CEO of HempFlax, which is a founding member of the Consortium. “Regulatory clarity will turbocharge the growth of the UK CBD market, benefiting both the UK exchequer and Europe’s vibrant hemp sector.”

EIHA will also submit an additional application to the European Food Safety Authority to secure regulatory approval for the EU market.