After years of stalemate, is the door to selling CBD as a food in Europe finally starting to open?
There is still no CBD product authorised as an EU CBD novel food. As of mid-2026, cannabidiol is not on the Union list of authorised novel foods, so it cannot be sold lawfully as a food or food supplement at EU level.[1] But something has shifted. On 9 February 2026, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) published a provisional safe intake level for CBD, the first significant scientific movement since EFSA concluded in 2022 that CBD safety “cannot currently be established”.[5][4] It is not an approval, but it is the first real crack in a pipeline that has been frozen for years.
What Is the EU CBD Novel Food Status in 2026?
Answer first: no CBD product is authorised. The Union list, the register of novel foods cleared for the EU market under Regulation (EU) 2015/2283, contains no entry for CBD.[1][2] The European Commission has received more than 200 CBD novel food applications since 2018, of which about 17 are currently under assessment at EFSA.[7] Through 2026 the Commission has continued to close several of these files, with decisions dated in February, March and June.[3] Importantly, these are terminations under Article 10(6) of the novel food regulation, meaning the Commission decided not to proceed with the procedure, not safety rejections.[3]
| EU CBD novel food: status at a glance (2026) | Where it stands |
|---|---|
| CBD on the EU Union list of novel foods? | No, not authorised |
| EFSA provisional safe intake level (9 Feb 2026) | 0.0275 mg/kg bw/day, about 2 mg/day for a 70 kg adult |
| Purity condition | Highly purified CBD, at least 98% |
| Applications received since 2018 | More than 200; about 17 under EFSA assessment |
| Does a positive EFSA opinion mean approval? | No, the Commission and Member States must add it to the Union list |
EFSA’s 2026 Provisional Safe Intake Level
The 9 February 2026 update established a provisional safe intake level of 0.0275 mg per kilogram of body weight per day, roughly 2 mg per day for a 70 kg adult.[5] That figure comes with strict conditions. It applies only to highly purified CBD of at least 98% purity, without nanoparticles, produced by a process considered safe and with genotoxicity ruled out.[5] It does not cover people under 25, pregnant or lactating women, or anyone on concurrent medication, for whom EFSA says safety still cannot be established.[5] EFSA also flagged persistent data gaps around the liver and the endocrine, nervous and reproductive systems.[5]
Why does this matter? Because for the first time EFSA has a benchmark it can assess applications against, rather than a blanket “safety cannot be established”.[4][5] EFSA has said it will now proceed with the risk assessment of each application based on the data each applicant provides.[5] That could unblock the stalled EU CBD novel food queue and let dossiers progress again. It is still not authorisation: even a positive EFSA opinion is only a scientific assessment, and the European Commission and the Member States must then decide to add the substance to the Union list.[2][5]
Why It Matters for CBD Producers
For CBD extractors, isolate and distillate producers, and formulators who sell or want to sell ingestible CBD into the EU, the practical bar has always been a data bar. A future authorisation would require a fully characterised substance, purity of at least 98%, a documented and reproducible production process, genotoxicity ruled out, and the toxicology and toxicokinetic data that fill EFSA’s gaps.[5] The 2 mg per day provisional level is also commercially restrictive, since many products on the market today dose well above it.[5] None of this touches CBD’s legal classification: the 2020 Kanavape ruling of the Court of Justice (Case C-663/18) confirmed that CBD is not a narcotic under EU law.[8] The novel food question is a separate food-safety track, and that is the track that remains the gatekeeper for the EU single market.[1]
How GrowerIQ Fits In
A credible EU novel food dossier, and any authorisation that follows, leans heavily on proving a defined, high-purity substance made by a controlled, reproducible process with full batch traceability. GrowerIQ’s seed-to-sale traceability, built-in QMS with deviation reports, CAPAs and SOP management, and EU GMP, GACP and GPP support help producers capture and maintain exactly that kind of purity, process-control and traceability evidence.[9] GrowerIQ does not file EFSA applications, but it helps you build the record that any application depends on.
Key Takeaways
- Still not approved: no CBD product is on the EU Union list, so ingestible CBD cannot be sold lawfully as a food at EU level.
- The 2026 shift: EFSA published a provisional safe intake level of about 2 mg/day on 9 February 2026, the first movement since 2022.
- Strict conditions: it applies only to CBD of at least 98% purity and excludes under-25s, pregnancy and concurrent medication.
- Opinion is not authorisation: the Commission and Member States must still vote CBD onto the Union list.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. As of mid-2026, CBD is not on the EU Union list of authorised novel foods, so it cannot be sold lawfully as a food or food supplement at EU level. More than 200 applications have been received since 2018, with about 17 under EFSA assessment.
What did EFSA decide about CBD in February 2026?
On 9 February 2026, EFSA published a provisional safe intake level of 0.0275 mg per kilogram of body weight per day, about 2 mg per day for a 70 kg adult, for highly purified CBD of at least 98% purity. It is a scientific benchmark, not an approval, and excludes several groups such as under-25s and pregnant women.
Does a positive EFSA opinion mean CBD is approved for food use?
No. A positive EFSA opinion is only a scientific assessment. The European Commission and EU Member States must then decide to add CBD to the Union list before it can be sold as a novel food.
Last updated: July 2026
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Sources
- Union list of novel foods, European Commission (accessed 17 July 2026)
- Regulation (EU) 2015/2283 on novel foods, EUR-Lex (accessed 17 July 2026)
- Decisions terminating the procedure, European Commission (accessed 17 July 2026)
- Statement on safety of cannabidiol as a novel food: data gaps and uncertainties, EFSA Journal 2022;20(6):7322 (accessed 17 July 2026)
- Provisional safe level for cannabidiol as a novel food, EFSA news release, 9 February 2026 (accessed 17 July 2026)
- Update of the statement on safety of cannabidiol as a novel food, EFSA Journal 2026 (accessed 17 July 2026)
- EFSA updated CBD safety report concludes persistent data gaps and 2mg/day limit, NutraIngredients (accessed 17 July 2026)
- CJEU Case C-663/18 (Kanavape), judgment 19 November 2020 (accessed 17 July 2026)
- GrowerIQ cannabis production management platform (accessed 17 July 2026)
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