A lack of federal regulations and an abundance of state regulations have made it difficult for food and beverages containing cannabidiol (CBD) to distribute products, reports The New York Times.
CBD, like marijuana, has been legalized in many states which has allowed manufacturers to make and distribute products within a state, but has created difficulties when scaling up, as national retailers like Target or Walmart are not merchandising them.
“For the first two years, we were riding a rocket ship,” said Johnathan Eppers, founder of CBD-infused beverage company Vybes. “But the patchwork of laws and regulations around the space has made it tough to grow our business.”
CBD was readied to be a trending ingredient, with an influx of CBD-focused startups flooding the industry in 2018; however, over the past few years, the industry has stalled. In 2019, Congress legalized hemp-based CBD; however, CBD made with higher levels of THC remained illegal at the federal level. The FDA has since refused to create rules allowing CBD to be used in foods and beverages, and, most recently, the effort to put a federal regulation for the ingredient into the farm bill was stymied.
Many also remain dubious over the need for the product in the marketplace.
“I think the bigger question here is why do you need to have it in food at all?” said Dr. Peter Lurie, president and executive director of the watchdog group Center for Science in the Public Interest. “What is the purpose? What is it that this ingredient is actually doing for you?” He added, “These companies have managed to create a belief that society needs these products when there’s no evidence that says CBD treats anything more than the rare epileptic syndrome it has been approved for.” (SFA)
