US health food retailer Vitamin Shoppe has become one of the first national retail chains in the country to sell hemp-based CBD supplements, after Congress legalised the cannabis derivative in December.
The US natural products industry has been pushing the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for clarity on the legal status of hemp-derived CBD. Despite the lifting of the federal ban on hemp, the use of hemp-derived CBD in food and drink products remains prohibited under current FDA rules.
At the beginning of April however the FDA’s Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said that the agency would use “enforcement discretion” on CBD, and signalled that the FDA wanted to apply a flexible approach to the category in recognition of federal law change on hemp.
This seems to have been taken as a green light for Vitamin Shoppe and other big retail chains to get CBD products quickly on-shelf. Vitamin Shoppe, which has around 800 stores nationally, is already offering a 25-product strong CBD range with price points ranging from $26.99-54.99.