The DGAL relaunches its war on CBD products

According to information provided by Professional Hemp Association (SPC), the French Food Directorate (DGAL) is preparing a national control plan 2026 aimed at all food products and dietary supplements containing CBD, from THC or any other cannabinoid. According to industry professionals, this measure marks an unprecedented hardening of France's stance on the issue.

At a meeting organized by the DGAL on April 15, 2026, several unions and federations (including SPC, Synadiet, UIVEC and Simple) were briefed on the operational procedures intended to guide controls from May onwards.

A strict interpretation of the novel foods regulation

At the heart of this strategy is the rigorous application of European regulation (EU) 2015/2283 on Novel Food. The DGAL points out that the European Commission's Novel Food catalog classifies cannabinoids, whether extracted from the plant or synthetic, as substances with no proven history of consumption prior to May 1997.

Consequently, as these ingredients are not on the list of authorized novel foods in the European Union, their incorporation into food products would be considered illegal. The DGAL affirms that this position was reaffirmed during European exchanges in February 2023, and that no authorization has been granted since. procedure at a standstill.

The situation is also fuelled by health signals: in the summer of 2025, ANSM and ANSES published a summary evoking an increase in nutrivigilance cases linked to CBD-containing products, the majority of intoxications nevertheless being caused by prohibited substances present in these products without the consumer's knowledge (synthetic cannabinoids) or THC levels above 0.3%.

For its part, EFSA issued a new statement in February 2026 indicating that it would remains impossible to conclude on the safety of CBD based on available data.

Which products will remain authorized?

In the framework presented, only certain parts of the hemp plant would retain an acceptable status: the hemp seeds and their derivatives (oils and flours), as well as aqueous infusions of hemp leaves. All other extracts, isolates and ingredients claiming the presence of CBD or other cannabinoids would be considered unauthorized Novel Food.

The DGAL foresees several levels of intervention. The first would concern products explicitly mentioning CBD, THC or any other cannabinoid on the label: they could be subject to a marketing suspension followed by a withdrawal. Products whose sum Δ8-THC + Δ9-THC exceeds the widely disputed Acute Reference Dose (ARfD) set by EFSA at 1 µg/kg bodyweight would continue to be recalled, as is already the case.

Finally, in the event of the presence of narcotics - i.e. total THC (THC isomers and precursors, including THCA, in excess of 0.3%) - the DGAL refers to a specific legal procedure based on the decree of February 22, 1990.

Checks from mid-May and no grace period

According to SPC, the administration does not foresee any transitional period. Operators will have to take the necessary steps themselves. In the event of inaction, prefectoral decrees may impose these measures after adversarial proceedings, few of which have so far found in favor of CBD companies.

The coordinated national campaign is set to get underway mid-May 2026, even if DDPP will remain free to intervene before or after this date. All distribution channels are affected: supermarkets, pharmacies, parapharmacies, CBD shops, vending machines and online sites.

ComplAlim: a declaration turned control tool

Particularly sensitive: the ComplAlim, a platform for the declaration of dietary supplements. Historically, the’UIVEC has actively defended the possibility for certain CBD products to be registered as dietary supplements, in a framework already contested but used by part of the industry. This declaration did not, however, grant dietary supplement status, and served only to provide the authorities with a list of «authorized» CBD products.

However, according to the SPC report, and as previously imagined by a number of stakeholders, the DGAL now intends to use these declarations as a basis for tracking. The Cannabis sativa plant would be repositioned as «unauthorized» in the ComplAlim database, and any declaration mentioning this species would automatically be directed towards a reinforced procedure, without automatic attestation.

An industry under economic and legal pressure

The SPC warns of the immediate consequences for the French industry, believing that the absence of a deadline for compliance and the automatic assimilation of the «CBD» mention to a Novel Food infringement risk causing a major economic shock.

The union is announcing a rapid mobilization, an inventory of the products concerned and a legal analysis to determine whether the French doctrine is compatible with European law and the principle of free movement of goods.