Prohibition of the Marketing of a Hemp Seed Oil containing cannabidiol Hemp Aroma Extract
OVG Lüneburg, decision of 4.2.2021, 13 ME 545/20 - Prohibition of the marketing of a hemp seed oil with hemp flavor extract containing cannabidiol.
"A product is not to be considered a 'flavoring' or 'flavoring extract' merely if it itself has a particular odor and/or flavor, or if it can impart or modify a particular odor and/or flavor to food. Rather, what is required is that the flavoring effect be the primary purpose pursued by the specific use of the product."
Another decision that joins the series of decisions on CBD. Now that it can no longer be doubted that CBD is a non-approved novel food, the circumvention variants of the Novel Food Regulation are now also dealt with in the case law. Besides the unspecified use as flavoring oil, which is not intended for ingestion, the flavoring regulation offers a possibility.
The background is that, according to the Flavor Regulation, a flavor does not fall under the regulatory scope of the Novel Food Regulation. Not all flavorings have to be approved.
However, the OVG Lüneburg now had to deal with the question of when a flavor is actually a flavor and when it is a nutritionally active ingredient that is actually not covered by the flavor regulation. The OVG Lüneburg now sees two criteria .
- On the one hand, a substance is an aroma or an aroma extract only if it is used with the express purpose of imparting, or modifying, a particular odor or taste. This effect must be the main purpose.
- Andererseits darf die als Aroma oder Aroma-Extrakt verwendete Zutat bei objektiver Betrachtung keine über die aromatisierende Wirkung erheblich hinausgehende eigene ernährungsphysiologische Aktivität aufweisen.