Cellular Goods has suspended sales of its ingestible CBD range after it failed to comply with Food Standards Agency rules.
The company, which is part-owned by David Beckham, was forced to withdraw its products after it was contacted by Trading Standards.
It had previously claimed it could keep trading as its ingestible products were just rebranded versions of those supplied by Chanelle McCoy Health, which has several lines on the FSA’s list of tradeable CBD goods under the Pureis brand.
However, the agency banned the launching of new brands and products after February 2020 while it assesses the risks of the existing market.
“We are disappointed by the FSA’s stance,” said Cellular Goods CEO Anna Chokina.
“We will continue to engage with the regulator as we believe our products are safe, of a high quality and appropriate to be on the market. We hope the matter can be resolved soon.”
Cellular added that its product marketing to date had focused on its skincare range, which is unaffected by the FSA novel foods process, though an outdoor marketing campaign launched in March included promotion for the company’s Feel Better range of ingestible products.
Steve Moore, strategic counsel at the Association for the Cannabinoid industry (ACI), called Cellular “the first big casualty” of the FSA’s novel food process, which he claimed would have been undermined if the company had been allowed to continue selling ingestibles.
“You can’t pretend you’re on top of this issue if there’s companies out there in open defiance of the rules,” he said.
A wide range of CBD companies did not make the FSA’s public list when it was released at the start of April, prompting retailers to reassess their ranges and remove unlisted products from sale.
Following complaints that some brands had been missed off in error, the agency announced it would update the list twice before the end of June, after which no further products would be added.
Future CBD launches will either have to obtain full novel foods authorisation before going to market or work with a supplier that has full authorisation.
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