More and more cannabinoids in confectionery

Number of rapid alerts reaches new high in 2023

01-Oct-2024

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In 2023, the authorities of the 31 participating countries exchanged almost 4,700 notifications on potentially harmful food, feed and food contact materials via the European Rapid Alert System RASFF. This is a new record, as reported by the Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (FSVO). The authorities are increasingly focusing on cannabinoids, for example in confectionery such as gumdrops, cookies, honey and soft drinks.

Almost every eighth report in the rapid alert system (592) was submitted by the German authorities. This puts Germany on a par with the Netherlands at the top of the list of reporting countries. 89 percent of all reports in the rapid alert system related to food, seven percent to animal feed and four percent to food contact materials such as tableware, cooking utensils or packaging.

As in previous years, the most frequent reasons for alerts included pesticide residues in fruit and vegetables from Turkey and salmonella in poultry meat from Poland. Overall, however, the number of these types of reports fell for the second year in a row. Instead, the number of warnings about unauthorized novel foods increased significantly. The majority of these notifications concern products containing cannabidiol (CBD), which is classified as novel. There were more than 90 RASFF notifications in this regard, 44 of which came from German authorities.

Particularly critical is the fact that cannabinoids are now increasingly being offered in foods that are particularly appealing to children and adolescents. In 2023, the authorities reported more than 20 products in the rapid alert system that are likely to be confused by children with commercially available products. These include gum drops, chewing gum, honey, syrup, soft drinks and cookies. In addition to CBD, some products contained the psychoactive cannabinoid hexahydrocannabinol (HHC), the sale of which is now banned in Germany.

Note: This article has been translated using a computer system without human intervention. LUMITOS offers these automatic translations to present a wider range of current news. Since this article has been translated with automatic translation, it is possible that it contains errors in vocabulary, syntax or grammar. The original article in German can be found here.

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