Italy, Ok to Cannabis on the dinner table
A decree has been issued setting the maximum contents of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in foods
The green light to Cannabis on the dinner table, in the ‘Gazzetta Ufficiale’ (Official Journal) a decree has been published setting the maximum limits of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in foods.
Coldiretti underlines in a press release that finally a “reply has arrived to the hundreds of farming companies investing in the cultivation of this type of plant, with lands cultivated in Italy, increasing by ten times in five years; from 400 hectares in 2013 to almost 4000 in 2018″.
The decree of the Ministry of Health establishes the admitted foods and the maximum limits of THC: hemp seeds, flour obtained from hemp seeds: 2,0 mg/Kg; oil obtained from hemp seeds 5,0 mg/Kg; food supplements containing food products derived from hemp 2,0 mg/Kg.
Cannabis Food
“The long-awaited publication in the ‘Gazetta’ sheds light on a sector which, in the past years, as recognized by Coldiretti, has registered an actual boom. A type of cultivation – it was concluded – which extends across the whole of Italy, a true comeback, as, up until the 40s, the hectares dedicated were almost 100 thousand”.
A sector which is experiencing a phase of constant growth and in which it is probably not yet possible to fully make use of its potential; the Cannabis Sativa cultivations could respond to the demand of development and modernisation of the agriculture sector.
Considerations and numbers
“Now what is needed – Coldiretti continues in the note – is an analogous legislative intervention in order to regulate, once and for all, the sector involving the commercialisation of cannabis sativa derivatives as well, in full compliance with constitutional and conventional principles, after the restrictive sentence issued end May 2019 by the Joint Sections of the Court of Cassation regarding the limits of law no. 242, 2016″.
The list of regulated foods are detailed in an annex to the decree and will be periodically updated.
As reported in the newspaper IlSole24Ore the Hemp sector has seen the investments grow significantly over the past ten years, with the cultivated lands passing from 400 hectares in 2013 to 4000 hectares in 2018.
The list of regulated foods, reported in the annex of the decree, will be updated from time to time, on the basis of additional foods to be added to the list.
Still remaining undefined is the regulation of the other derivatives, which in Europe would generate a possible business estimated around 36 billion euros in 2021.