FDA warns companies about illegal marketing of CBD products

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued warning letters to 13 companies that sell CBD products for pets, accusing them of violating a federal law.

The agency issued the warnings in late November to 15 companies that sell CBD (cannabidiol) products for both humans and pets. According to the FDA, the companies sell their products in ways that violate the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, the 1938 law that gave the agency authority to oversee the safety of food, drugs, medical devices and cosmetics.

The FDA also said in its announcement that due to the lack of scientific information supporting the safety of CBD in food, it can’t classify the substance as “generally recognized as safe” among experts for use in human or animal food. (This would exempt it from having to undergo the usual FDA approval process.)

Companies that received warning letters “are using product webpages, online stores and social media to market CBD products in interstate commerce in ways that violate the FD&C Act, including marketing CBD products to treat diseases or for other therapeutic uses for humans and/or animals,” the announcement said. “Other violations include marketing CBD products as dietary supplements and adding CBD to human and animal foods.”

“As we work quickly to further clarify our regulatory approach for products containing cannabis and cannabis-derived compounds like CBD, we’ll continue to monitor the marketplace and take action as needed against companies that violate the law in ways that raise a variety of public health concerns,” FDA Principal Deputy Commissioner Amy Abernathy said in the announcement. “We remain concerned that some people wrongly think that the myriad of CBD products on the market, many of which are illegal, have been evaluated by the FDA and determined to be safe, or that trying CBD ‘can’t hurt.’”

The FDA is evaluating the safety of CBD products and plans to provide an update on its progress in the coming weeks.

Petfood Industry provides a list of the companies that market CBD pet products and received warnings. The FDA has requested responses from all the companies saying how they’ll correct the violations.