The National Consumers League (NCL) and the Community Anti-Drug Coalition (CADCA) recently sent a joint letter to the FDA to express concerns Major League Baseball’s sponsorship deal with a CBD company. NCL has also reached out to the MLB commissioner.
Despite the FDA stating that CBD is not generally recognized as safe (GRAS), and several studies demonstrating that CBD products are often mislabeled and can contain hazardous components, the MLB is now the first major U.S. sports leagues to promote the substance.
Certain products will now brandish the MLB logo as having a special certification for use by athletes. It’s important for consumers to remember that commercially available CBD products are not tested or regulated by the FDA for safety.
In their letters, NCL and CADCA called attention to the consumer confusion around CBD that could result from the MLB endorsement: “Agreements such as the partnership recently announced between Major League Baseball (MLB) and CBD maker Charlotte’s Web have us concerned, because the lack of regulation of the product is not well understood by the public and this type of agreement sends, in our view, a deceptive message to consumers, implying that CBD is regulated – or at the very least, tested, and proven safe. This is particularly concerning for young MLB players and fans.”
Other organizations including the American Medical Association have expressed similar concerns about “the proliferation of unsubstantiated health claims for unapproved drug products.”
NCL and CADCA continue to encourage the FDA to act within its authority to take strong, effective, and prompt action to protect consumers from the risks associated with unregulated CBD. More on the letter here.