The regulatory status of cannabinoids in the EU is just as much a free-for-all as it is in the US.  Various states in the US oversee hemp-derived extracts and require safety testing, but other do not.  The FDA has also proven unable to develop CBD regulation, instead telling congress that cannabis extracts don’t fit into the current scope of FDA oversight. 

On both sides of the Atlantic, hemp stakeholders have tried to leverage existing policy to have hemp derivatives recognized under relevant categories. In the US, seeking “GRAS” status, or (generally recognized as safe) is a designation that eventually applied to hempseed, but not to cannabis extracts. 

Broadly speaking, products that have been used historically – and present no obvious signs of harm – qualify as GRAS.  In Europe, the Novel Foods characterization comes at it from the other end, by identifying novel ingredients that do not have a common history of usage. 

After…