Infinity CBD Novel Food Update!
by Rowan Bailey
Novel Food Update
So you may have started hearing a lot about CBD Novel Food applications/ registrations etc. It’s now being beckoned from the roof tops like the demand for lab reports when this industry started picking up and with good reason! But it can be a little bit confusing (Even for us within the industry at times!) as there’s already a lot of conflicting information out there.
So first up i’m going to break it down really simply and then i’ll go into more detail for anyone who wants to know!
A simple breakdown:
Put simply, Novel Food refers to a food product that wasn’t widely recognised/ consumed prior to the introduction of novel foods in 1997. As many of the extraction techniques/ forms of edible CBD weren't widely available prior to this, they come under this category and will require to be registered as a novel food to be a legal product on the market. That’s it. The deadline for submission of these applications and for the products to be represented legally in the market is the 1st of April. So any food products that haven’t been registered as a novel food prior to that, will then be illegal to sell on the UK/ EU market.
But what does that mean as a consumer?
Good news or bad news first? Lets start with a cheeky little good news starter and then we can end of the ‘Bad’ news, which isn’t actually that bad…
So the good news is that you have even more peace of mind when shopping for CBD Drops or other edibles when purchasing a product that has been registered! Why’s that I hear you say? Well it’s because in order to be novel food registered, the company manufacturing these products has to show an extensive amount of supporting documents to back up the safety, traceability, stability, potency and legality of the product.
The bad news, is that if you have been on regime using CBD Drops or other edibles with a company that hasn’t been able to get their products through novel food, then it would mean that either they will no longer be able to sell you those products, or they will continue to do so which in turn will expose them to serious fines and other complications, which inevitably will result in that supply ending. So it may be time to find a supplier that has a valid novel application in and if you’re not sure if they do, request their reference!
Is this ‘The Man’ taking CBD/ Cannabis industry away from regular people like you and us?
In short no, but we can see how it feeds into that kind of thinking, so let us shed some light on why it’s important to have regulations like this in place!
In short this comes down to safety, consistency and traceability. If you’ve followed us for a while, then you know we’ve always advocated for this and thankfully so have many other businesses in this industry. However, as with many things, the few can ruin it for the rest. The CBD industry has been seen as the ‘Green Rush’ in the United States and has drawn in a lot of start ups that are purely in it for a quick buck. Their focus isn’t in the right place and potentially their knowledge isn’t there to create these consistent formulations or have the cash flow to have the appropriate lab testing done.
Novel food registration ensures that these issues are no longer there. Yes it’s an expensive process, but it isn’t designed to shut down businesses, it’s designed to support and protect the industry but more importantly the end user.
You’ll hear a lot of figures thrown around about how much it costs to get your CBD Product novel food, reactions we’ve had have been as if that’s a figure that lands in the governments pocket as a thank you and you get granted a ticket to the show. When in reality the vast majority of that costs associated with this process is actually the supporting documentation around the products. This includes but isn’t limited to, advanced stability testing in multiple conditions, multiple stage potency testing, insurances and implementation of high GMP standards and purchasing raw materials not from the cheapest supplier on google, but from a supplier that meets and preferably exceeds everything important to this.
But the extraction methods were used before 1997!!!
You’re not entirely wrong and to a certain extent you’re preaching to the choir with that one. This has been a sticking point around this topic as far back as our involvement in the industry ever since we opened our first shop in 2018. There are of course plenty of extraction methods that were well documented and used prior to 1997, however there are also a lot of processes and extraction methods that weren’t. Furthermore, there’s also some technicalities between the different methods that make a huge difference.
For example, with CBD isolate there simply isn’t that track record prior to this date. Where as cold pressed hemp, solvent based extractions or other methods have been..This isn’t something that is unknown in the industry and even leading associations such as the European Industrial Hemp Association (EIHA) have also argued this point.
Despite this, our takeaway is still a positive one. This is a new industry and even 5-10 years ago Hemp related medicines were argued against heavily in parliament despite being one of the biggest medical cannabis exporters in the world. Now you can (Despite it being difficult..) be prescribed Cannabis legally here in the UK. The mindset not only of the public has changed, but also regulatory bodies and even recently France came forward stating that they’ll be raising the lower limit on THC to 1%! So times are changing and in another 5-10 years it will be drastically different again.
In the meantime, this industry is evolving at a rapid pace, there needs to be some sort of baseline/ regulation to ensure 2 things. The stability of the industry by protecting the consumers, if theres no accountability for potency/ testing and quality then many customers will fall short on expectations and won’t reconsider CBD/ Hemp as an option. Secondly to protect the smaller businesses that are making a name for themselves for the right reasons in this industry. If things weren't regulated and it continued to be the ‘Wild West’ so to speak, it would be very easy for the industry to get an ill fated reputation. In turn this could justify stronger restrictions that do genuinely squeeze ‘the little man’ out of the industry as it expands and evolves.
We believe the companies that are in this for the right reasons have the ability to shape the medical cannabis industry moving forward, and as much as i’ve lost countless nights sleep and gained many grey hairs trying to get us covered for every eventuality of this novel food process, the fact that it enables us to still be at the table in this industry is worth it.
Novel Food Compliant CBD Oil
So yeah yeah shut up Rowan, are Infinity CBD products covered by novel food registration?
Yes! So we have been working with our raw materials supplier, the EIHA and our local council officers to ensure we are covered and can keep our CBD Edibles legally on the market, our supply chain won’t change and in fact it’s stronger than ever!
In summary our following products are covered by Novel Foods:
250mg Broad Spectrum Organic CBD Oil Drops
500mg Broad Spectrum Organic CBD Oil Drops
1,000mg Broad Spectrum Organic CBD Oil Drops
1,500mg Broad Spectrum Organic CBD Oil Drops
2,000mg Broad Spectrum Organic CBD Oil Drops
3,000mg Broad Spectrum Organic CBD Oil Drops
4,000mg Broad Spectrum Organic CBD Oil Drops
Awaken Terpene Infused Drops 500mg
Awaken Terpene Infused Drops 1000mg
Awaken Terpene Infused Drops 2000mg
Relief Terpene Infused Drops 500mg
Relief Terpene Infused Drops 1000mg
Relief Terpene Infused Drops 2000mg
Calm Terpene Infused Drops 500mg
Calm Terpene Infused Drops 1000mg
Calm Terpene Infused Drops 2000mg
CBD Orbs (Capsules)
All Gourmet CBD Chocolate bars (Including our previous limited edition flavours) in 120mg, 240mg, 480mg and 1,000mg
Removed products:
Full Spectrum Drops
Vegan Gummies
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out and we'll be on hand to answer!
Thanks again for all of the help that we've had from within the industry, to our customers who have kept us going through the on going COVID crisis and enabled us to keep this ship on the sea so to speak!
We love you all, thank you!
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The Infinity CBD team
The Infinity CBD team