Over the past four years, one question has repeatedly surfaced within the UK hemp and CBD industry: how did certain CBD products, including those linked to Pureis, come to be included on the Food Standards Agency CBD Public List despite clear requirements that products had to be on the market before 13 February 2020? This article examines the evidence, correspondence, FOI disclosures, and complaint files surrounding that question.

When a fixed regulatory deadline meets withheld evidence and shifting interpretations, questions follow. This open letter examines how the UK Food Standards Agency has applied its CBD novel foods rules—and whether those decisions can be properly scrutinised.

With a proposed UK–EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) agreement potentially aligning food regulations, questions are emerging about where regulatory authority ultimately sits.