Europe's food safety regulator has now weighed in on how much CBD a person can safely consume from supplements, and the number is far more conservative than most global CBD brands are formulating to. On February 9, 2026 (B.E. 2569), EFSA's Panel on Nutrition, Novel Foods and Food Allergens published its scientific opinion on CBD as a novel food ingredient, setting a provisional acceptable daily intake of 0.0275 mg per kilogram of body weight per day, which works out to roughly 2 mg of CBD per day for a 70 kg adult. For companies watching Thailand's still-forming cannabis ingredient framework, this is exactly the kind of international benchmark Thai regulators tend to reference once they build their own position.
A Conservative Ceiling Grounded in Data Gaps
The opinion, published in EFSA Journal as document e9862, rests on liver toxicity data from repeated-dose animal studies combined with human pharmacokinetic modeling. Its provisional status reflects data gaps rather than any identified harm at higher doses: the panel could not establish safety for several population groups, specifically individuals under 25 years of age, pregnant and lactating women, and anyone taking medication. It is also narrow in scope. The opinion covers high-purity CBD isolate only, and does not extend to full-spectrum or broad-spectrum hemp extracts, which contain additional phytochemicals the panel did not assess.
What makes this number notable is how far it sits below commercial norms. CBD supplement products marketed in Europe, the US, and Australia commonly range from 10 mg to 75 mg per daily serving, five to nearly forty times EFSA's provisional ceiling. That gap is not a rounding difference; it reflects a genuinely more cautious read of the safety data than most of the industry has been operating under.
Where This Leaves Thailand's CBD Supplement Pathway
Thailand's relationship with cannabis-derived ingredients has moved through several distinct phases since the 2022 delisting of cannabis and hemp from the narcotics list, and CBD in food supplements currently sits in an unsettled space. Cannabis extracts below defined THC thresholds are not prohibited outright, but Thai FDA has not formally codified an approval pathway for CBD as a supplement ingredient for the broad market. Companies wanting to launch a notified or registered CBD supplement product in Thailand are, in effect, navigating that ambiguity without a clear rulebook yet.
The EFSA opinion is likely to inform whatever position Thai FDA eventually takes, given how frequently Thai reviewers cite EFSA risk assessments in other supplement categories. That makes the age restriction in this opinion particularly relevant to Thai marketing strategy: a meaningful share of Thailand's supplement consumer base is under 25, and any CBD product positioning that targets that segment would draw scrutiny even under a permissive reading of the EFSA opinion.
How to Approach CBD Formulation Right Now
The most important discipline here is not assuming CBD has clear open-market status in Thailand simply because it is legal to formulate elsewhere. Before investing in CBD formulation work for the Thai market, get a formal regulatory opinion from Thai FDA or qualified regulatory counsel on the ingredient's current status. In parallel, keep watch on Thai FDA's own signals: the agency has indicated that updated guidance on cannabis-derived food and supplement ingredients is coming, so monitoring Royal Gazette postings and Thai FDA notifications for anything addressing CBD approval criteria, permitted dosage, or labeling is worthwhile now. If your company is still in early formulation or feasibility work, treat the 2 mg/day EFSA figure as the current credible international ceiling for a conservative regulatory environment rather than a floor to build up from; designing around a higher initial dosage creates rework risk if Thai FDA later references this opinion directly. And because the EFSA opinion explicitly excludes those under 25, pregnant women, lactating women, and medicated individuals, product labeling and marketing copy for any CBD supplement should carry clear contraindication statements well before enforcement makes them mandatory.
DeeMED Consulting advises supplement companies on cannabis-derived ingredient strategy for the Thai market, including dossier readiness and regulatory status monitoring ahead of formal Thai FDA guidance. If you are weighing a CBD supplement launch and want the groundwork in place before the pathway clarifies, our ingredient approval and novel food consulting team can help you build a compliant, fast-moving concept rather than a speculative one.
Sources & Further Reading
- EFSA Journal, document e9862 (February 9, 2026) — efsa.onlinelibrary.wiley.com