Novel food and CBD: what european resellers of ingestibles need to know

Key takeaways

• Novel Food applies to ingestible CBD — oils, capsules, edibles, drinks — not to flower, inhalables or cosmetics, which follow different rules.
• In the EU, no CBD product has been authorised as a novel food. EFSA’s safety evaluations have been on hold since 2022 pending more data.
• The European Commission has been terminating applications that lack sufficient data rather than approving them.
• Some member states (France and Spain among them) have suspended sales of CBD foods and supplements pending clearance.
• The UK runs a separate regime: the FSA’s Public List determines which ingestible CBD products may currently be sold there.

What does “Novel Food” mean in the EU?

A “novel food” is any food that was not consumed to a significant degree in the EU before 15 May 1997. Under the Novel Food Regulation (EU) 2015/2283, such foods cannot legally be placed on the market until they have been assessed for safety by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and authorised by the European Commission. The logic is straightforward: if there is no established history of safe consumption, the burden falls on the applicant to prove the food is safe before it can be sold.

In January 2019 the EU added cannabinoids, including CBD extracts, to its Novel Food catalogue. From that point, ingestible CBD products were officially treated as novel foods requiring authorisation.

Why do CBD ingestibles fall under it?

Because the EU concluded there was no significant history of CBD-rich extract consumption before 1997, extracted CBD as a food ingredient meets the definition of a novel food. That covers CBD oils taken orally, capsules, edibles, drinks and supplements.

One useful distinction: hemp seeds, hemp seed oil and hemp seed flour are not novel foods — they have a long history of consumption and sit outside this regime. The novel-food question attaches specifically to CBD-rich extracts and isolates used as ingredients, not to seed-derived products.

What is the authorisation status — and what does “on hold” mean?

This is where resellers are most often surprised. Despite the regime existing for years and more than 200 applications submitted, no CBD product has been granted full novel-food authorisation in the EU.

The bottleneck is safety data. In 2022, EFSA announced that it could not conclude on the safety of CBD as a novel food and put its evaluations on hold, citing unresolved questions — including possible effects on the liver, the gastrointestinal tract, the endocrine system, and reproduction, as well as interactions with medicines and a lack of robust dose-response data. EFSA reinforced this stance in a September 2025 update, raising the evidential bar further. None of this is a statement about CBD’s benefits; it is a regulator saying it does not yet have the data to declare the ingredient safe at the levels proposed.

Rather than leaving applications in limbo indefinitely, the European Commission has increasingly terminated procedures for applications that lack sufficient data — closing them “without updating the Union list of novel foods.” Decisions in early 2026, for example, terminated procedures for isolated CBD, broad-spectrum CBD and others on this basis. In practice, that means the path to a legal ingestible-CBD food in the EU remains, for now, closed.

Two further points matter for sellers. First, member states retain power to act in the meantime: France and Spain, among others, have suspended the sale of CBD foods and supplements pending EFSA clearance. Second, “pending” is not the same as “approved” — a product whose application is still being processed has not been cleared, and national authorities can and do enforce against ingestibles they consider unauthorised.

The UK is a separate regime: the FSA Public List

The UK retained the EU novel-food framework after Brexit, but it is now administered by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and has diverged in practice.

The key instrument is the FSA’s Public List of CBD products linked to novel-food applications. Ingestible CBD products that were already on the UK market before February 2020 and submitted a credible application by the 2021 deadline were allowed to remain on sale while their applications are assessed; products not on the list are not authorised for sale as ingestibles. As in the EU, no CBD novel food has yet been fully approved in Great Britain — though in August 2025 the FSA launched a consultation on three CBD novel-food applications (closed in November 2025), the first to move meaningfully toward possible authorisation, accompanied by tight labelling and dosage conditions.

The FSA has also set conservative consumption guidance: a provisional acceptable daily intake of 10 mg of CBD per day, and a THC safe upper limit of 0.07 mg per day. For a UK-facing catalogue, the practical test is simple: is the specific product on the FSA Public List?

Flower and inhalables follow a different track

A common and costly error is assuming Novel Food governs everything. It does not. The regime applies to food — things ingested. Hemp flower, resins and inhalable products are not foods, so they sit outside the novel-food question and are instead governed by national rules on hemp and controlled substances (often sold, where permitted, on a “not for human consumption” basis). We cover that distinct legal track in our guide to the legal status of CBD flower in the EU.

So a single supplier’s catalogue can span three different regulatory worlds at once: ingestibles under Novel Food, flower/inhalables under national hemp rules, and cosmetics under cosmetic-safety law. Each format has to be assessed on its own terms.

Practical implications for your catalogue

What this means when you decide what to stock:

1. Treat ingestibles as your highest-exposure category. Oils, capsules, edibles and drinks carry the Novel Food question; do not assume they are clear simply because they are on sale somewhere.
2. Check the market, not the bloc. Ask whether a given ingestible may currently be sold in your specific country — in the UK, whether it is on the FSA list; in the EU, that no authorisation exists and some states have suspended sales.
3. Separate formats. Flower, inhalables and cosmetics follow different rules — see our guides to the legal status of flower and to flower, resin and extracts.
4. Never make health claims. Marketing an ingestible CBD product with therapeutic or medicinal claims creates a separate, serious regulatory problem on top of Novel Food.
5. Keep documentation and take advice. Hold your lab reports (see reading a Certificate of Analysis) and confirm THC compliance alongside food status (see THC limits across Europe). Where the stakes are real, get local legal advice.

Working with Highness. The compliance picture for ingestibles differs sharply from one market to the next. When you speak to a Highness sales agent, you can discuss which products fit the market you sell into before you commit to stock. Contact the Highness sales network for a commercial consultation.

Frequently asked questions

Is CBD a novel food in the EU?
Yes. Since 2019, extracted CBD used as a food ingredient has been treated as a novel food, meaning ingestible CBD products require authorisation before they can legally be placed on the market.

Has any CBD product been approved as a novel food?
No. Despite more than 200 applications, no CBD product has received full novel-food authorisation in the EU, and EFSA’s safety evaluations have been on hold since 2022 pending more data. The UK FSA has likewise not yet fully approved one.

Does Novel Food apply to CBD flower?
No. Novel Food applies to ingestible foods. Flower and inhalable products are not foods and are governed by separate national hemp and controlled-substance rules.

Can I sell CBD oil in the EU right now?
It depends heavily on the country. No EU authorisation exists, and some member states (such as France and Spain) have suspended sales of CBD foods and supplements. Verify the current position in your specific market before stocking ingestibles.

Are hemp seed products novel foods?
No. Hemp seeds, hemp seed oil and hemp seed flour have an established history of consumption and fall outside the novel-food regime.

Sources

This overview draws on, among others: the EU Novel Food Regulation (EU) 2015/2283; the European Commission’s novel-food catalogue and its 2026 decisions terminating CBD authorisation procedures; EFSA’s statements placing CBD evaluations on hold (2022) and its 2025 safety update; national measures in France and Spain suspending CBD food/supplement sales; and the UK Food Standards Agency’s Public List, 2025 consultation and intake guidance. Status reflects the position as understood in mid-2026 and is subject to change.

About this guide: prepared for resellers and buyers of ingestible CBD products in Europe. Reviewed by Highness Distribution. This article is general business information and does not constitute legal advice; novel-food status and national measures change frequently, so always verify the current position in your own market and take professional advice where appropriate.