Full-spectrum CBD capsules: dosage, EFSA and the 2026 ban

A softgel is a soft sealed shell, usually of gelatine, filled with an oil carrying the CBD extract. A hard capsule is different: two halves fitted together around a powder. Labels give the dose in milligrams of CBD per capsule.

There are three types of extract. Full spectrum retains all the compounds of hemp, traces of THC and minor cannabinoids such as CBG included. Broad spectrum takes out the THC and retains everything else. Isolate is CBD alone, purified to about 99%. Each format has its own article: full spectrum, broad spectrum and isolate. The claim that full spectrum works better, known as the "entourage effect", is still an unproven hypothesis.

The legal basis is Regulation (EU) 2015/2283 on novel foods. It applies to any food consumed only negligibly in the EU before 15 May 1997 and permits such foods only once they are authorised. CBD extracts are in this category, and none has been authorised.

On 15 April 2026, the DGAL told trade bodies about a control plan to be applied from 15 May. The Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur chamber of agriculture passed the announcement on and lists hard capsules and softgels among the targeted products, with sweets, chocolates, drinks and sublingual oils labelled "food supplement". What triggers the plan is the label. Any food that mentions CBD, THC or another cannabinoid is covered, whatever its content.

The Ministry of Agriculture published its position on 20 May 2026: foods containing CBD are not authorised, and that includes food supplements. Hemp seeds, their derivatives such as seed oil, and leaves for infusion in water are the only exceptions. Our overview of CBD regulation in 2026 covers the whole framework, and our article on CBD gummies follows another format caught by the rule.

The European Food Safety Authority published a provisional safe level on 9 February 2026: 0.0275 mg of CBD per kilo of body weight a day, or about 2 mg a day for a 70 kg adult. Its scope is limited in three ways:

• it covers only food supplements made with CBD of at least 98% purity, with no nanoparticles;
• safety has not been established for people under 25, in pregnancy or breastfeeding, or for people on medication;
• EFSA will judge each application on the applicant's own data, and questions remain open on the liver and on the hormonal, nervous and reproductive systems.

By definition, a full-spectrum or broad-spectrum extract falls short of 98% CBD, so the reference tells you nothing about its safety. For an isolate the calculation is simple. A 10 mg capsule is 5 times the reference, a 25 mg capsule 12.5 times and a 50 mg capsule 25 times.

The same calculation for oils is in our article on EFSA's reference dose.

Swallowed CBD crosses the gut, then the liver, before it reaches the circulation. A 2020 review in CNS Drugs estimates that the oral bioavailability of CBD on an empty stomach is about 6%, so of 25 mg swallowed, roughly 1.5 mg reaches the blood. By the authors' calculation, the liver removes 70 to 75% of the absorbed dose before it circulates.

Food makes a large difference. According to the same review, exposure is about four times higher when CBD is taken with a high-fat meal. A phase 1 trial in healthy volunteers used an oral solution of purified CBD and measured a blood peak 4 to 5 hours after the dose. One capsule can thus give very different exposures, fasting or after a fatty meal. That is one reason the stated dose cannot serve to compare two swallowed products.

The French threshold of 0.30% Δ⁹-THC, set by the decree of 30 December 2021, applies to the plant and to the products made from it, as a percentage of mass. Take a capsule whose contents weigh 500 mg: at the 0.30% threshold, it can hold up to 1.5 mg of THC.

Drug tests look for exactly this molecule, even in traces. Our guide to CBD and drug testing explains what saliva tests detect. Since the law of 9 July 2025, driving after drug use has been punishable by 3 years in prison and a €9,000 fine, as detailed in our article on CBD and driving.

The liver clears CBD using the same enzymes as many medicines, CYP3A4 and CYP2C19 among them. Swallowed CBD can therefore alter the blood level of an anticoagulant, an antiepileptic or an immunosuppressant, and our article on the grapefruit effect lists the drug families concerned. Epidyolex, the only authorised CBD-based medicine, is an oral solution prescribed under medical supervision for rare epilepsies.

A capsule may not promise better sleep or less stress. Under Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006, only authorised health claims on the EU list are allowed, and none of them concerns CBD.

The products still on sale come under other frameworks: CBD flowers and resins not presented as food and containing 0.30% Δ⁹-THC or less, and cosmetics. If you want to check a product, our guide to the certificate of analysis goes through each line.