Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is a psychoactive cannabinoid that may be present in hemp-containing foods.

To protect consumers of hemp-containing food products from negative effects on health, the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) recommends in its opinion of February 17 to apply the Acute Reference Dose (ARfD) of 1 µg THC/kg body weight for toxicological assessments of hemp-containing foodstuffs.

The ARfD for THC was derived by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in 2015 and indicates the estimated maximum amount of THC that can be ingested in the diet over the course of a day at one meal or multiple meals without identifiable health risk.

The BfR recommends that for each hemp-containing food, it should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis whether the ARfD of 1 µg THC/kg body weight can possibly be exceeded. The THC content in the relevant food and its estimated daily intake have to be considered for the safety evaluation.