CBD gummies in France: why they were pulled from shelves
CBD gummies can no longer be sold in France. They are foods made with a hemp extract, and no CBD extract holds the EU authorisation that a "novel food" needs. Since 15 May 2026, French authorities have been checking and ordering these products off the market. CBD flowers, resins and cosmetics are unaffected.
Key takeaways
- Regulation (EU) 2015/2283 on novel foods covers a CBD gummy, because it is a food, and that regulation requires authorisation before sale.
- The EU has authorised no CBD extract as a food. Checks by the DGAL, France's food authority, have widened since 15 May 2026.
- EFSA's provisional level, set in February 2026, is about 2 mg of CBD a day for a 70 kg adult; a 10 mg gummy is five times that.
- Wherever these products are sold, the French Ministry of Agriculture tells consumers not to buy or eat them.
- CBD flowers, resins, cosmetics and e-liquids stay on sale under their own rules.
What changed in spring 2026
No new law was involved: the change came from systematic enforcement. On 15 April 2026, the Directorate-General for Food (DGAL) showed industry unions a national plan. It covered every food product that contains or advertises CBD, THC or another cannabinoid, with enforcement from 15 May 2026, according to the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Chamber of Agriculture. The Ministry of Agriculture made it public on 20 May 2026: these foods are illegal and must be withdrawn from the market, and checks now reach specialist shops, supermarkets, online sellers and vending machines.
The text being applied is Regulation (EU) 2015/2283. Under it, any food not consumed to a significant degree in the EU before 15 May 1997 counts as a "novel food" and can be sold only after a safety assessment. CBD extracts belong to this category. Applications have been filed over several years, and none has been approved.
What the measure targets is the product's status as a food. The molecule itself is untouched: CBD is not a narcotic, and compliant flowers are still sold. The breach lies in adding it to a food without authorisation.
| Product | Status in France since May 2026 | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| CBD gummies, sweets, chewing gum | Withdrawn from sale | Food containing an unauthorised novel food |
| Oils sold as "food supplements", capsules, softgels | Withdrawn from sale | Same reason |
| Chocolates, drinks, infusions of flowering tops | Withdrawn from sale | Same reason |
| Hemp seeds, seed oil and seed flour | Authorised | Eaten before 1997, not a novel food |
| Hemp leaves for water infusion | Authorised | Excluded from novel food status, no added extract |
| Hemp flowers and resins | On sale | Not foods |
| CBD cosmetics | On sale | Cosmetics regulation, applied to skin |
Why a gummy fails: EFSA's provisional level
On 9 February 2026, the European Food Safety Authority set a provisional safe intake of 0.0275 mg of CBD per kilo of body weight per day. That works out at about 2 mg a day for a 70 kg adult. A safety factor is built into the figure, because data on the liver and on the endocrine, nervous and reproductive systems are still incomplete. EFSA had already pointed to these gaps in a first statement in June 2022.
The level has a narrow scope. It covers only supplements with CBD at least 98% pure, free of nanoparticles and made by a process judged safe. For people under 25, pregnant or breastfeeding women and people on medication, EFSA concludes that the safety of CBD cannot be established.
Your weight sets the figure: 0.0275 × weight in kilos. That gives 1.4 mg at 50 kg, 1.9 mg at 70 kg and 2.5 mg at 90 kg, so a 10 mg gummy is four to seven times the level depending on the person. "Fast-acting" gummies use nanoemulsions to speed up absorption, which puts them outside the level entirely, since it excludes nanoparticles. Our article on EFSA's reference dose works through the calculation.
What the authorities found on the ground
Case reports also underpin the withdrawal. In June 2025, the ANSM, France's medicines agency, raised an alert about several hundred poisonings recorded since early 2024 by poison and addiction-monitoring centres. Most of the products involved contained a synthetic cannabinoid or a THC level above 0.3%, unknown to the buyer. Gummies, sweets, chocolates and syrups are among the formats listed. The agency points to the risk of accidental ingestion by children, who are attracted by the look of these sweets.
The alert also reports that 8 CBD products out of 10 show a CBD content that differs from the label. A gummy makes that gap hard to see: you can judge neither the colour of the extract nor its quantity, only a sweet.
A separate file is still open. In March 2025, ANSES, France's food and health safety agency, proposed at EU level to classify CBD as "presumed toxic to human reproduction", category 1B under the CLP regulation. The proposal concerns the hazard classification of the substance and has gone out to consultation; it decides nothing about products.
Sleep, immunity, THC-free: what the label is worth
Before the withdrawal, gummies were often sorted by use: evening, daytime, immunity, sport. Those segments were marketing and carried no legal status. Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 allows a health claim on food only if it appears in the EU register, and the register holds none for CBD.
"Immunity" ranges often paired CBD with vitamin C or D, and sometimes zinc. Those nutrients carry an authorised claim, "contributes to the normal function of the immune system", when present in a sufficient amount. The claim then applied to the vitamin, never to CBD or to added plants such as astragalus.
Without an analysis, "THC-free" meant nothing. A gummy made from isolate, CBD purified to 98 or 99%, reduces the risk of THC traces without eliminating it, and a full-spectrum gummy may contain some. Medals such as "product of the year" reflect a panel vote on taste or packaging and say nothing about compliance. Only a certificate of analysis for the batch, tied to the product sold, shows what it contains; our guide to reading a certificate of analysis explains each line.
You still have gummies at home: what now?
No rule penalises simply owning a CBD gummy bought before May 2026. The official advice still leaves no doubt: the Ministry of Agriculture asks consumers not to buy or eat these products, wherever they are sold.
After an unexpected effect, the ANSM recommends stopping the product and keeping its packaging in case it needs analysing. In France, call 15 for serious symptoms, or a poison control centre for advice. SignalConso, the DGCCRF consumer service, takes reports of products still on sale in shops or online.
Driving deserves a thought as well. Full-spectrum gummies may contain THC. France's Court of Cassation ruled on 21 June 2023 that driving after drug use is an offence as soon as a test detects use, whatever the dose. Detection windows are covered in our guide to CBD and saliva tests.
What is still legal in France
CBD products you do not eat stay on sale. Hemp flowers and resins with no more than 0.30% Δ⁹-THC in the finished product come under hemp law, since the Conseil d'État struck down on 29 December 2022 the ban on selling flowers and leaves. They are listed in our CBD flowers and resins, hash and pollens categories. CBD cosmetics, applied to the skin, follow the cosmetics regulation; e-liquids follow the tobacco and vaping rules.
None of these formats is a medicine. Epidyolex is the only authorised cannabidiol medicine, prescribed for certain rare epilepsies. Our overview of CBD regulation and Novel Food sets out everything allowed and banned in 2026. THC gummies are banned on other grounds, because THC is a narcotic; our article on THC gummies explains why.
Frequently asked questions
Selling them is banned, as for any food containing a CBD extract, since none has an authorisation under Regulation (EU) 2015/2283. The DGAL has been enforcing this since 15 May 2026. CBD itself stays legal in other forms: flowers, resins, cosmetics.
Some shops and websites have not yet cleared their stock. The Ministry of Agriculture says these products are illegal wherever they are sold, and you can report the seller on SignalConso.
No. The novel food regulation covers the whole EU, and no CBD extract is authorised as a food in any part of it. Where the gummy was sold makes no difference to its status.
Provisionally, 0.0275 mg per kilo per day, about 2 mg for an adult of 70 kg. The level does not cover people under 25, pregnant or breastfeeding women, or people on medication.
Yes. You chew it and swallow part of it with saliva, which makes it a food. The same regulation and the same withdrawal apply to it as to gummies and sweets.
Written by the Phytogrammes team
Each journal article draws on cited primary sources: ANSM, EFSA, EUR-Lex and peer-reviewed publications. Product profiles are distinguished from documented laboratory results. Our approach.
Article published on . CBD is not a medicine.