Portman Group issues retailer alert over CBD infused gin Colorado High

The Portman Group, the self-regulatory body of UK alcoholic drinks producers, has urged retailers not to re-order CBD-infused gin Colorado High after the makers decided against reversing the product.

The move follows a decision by the Independent Complaints Panel of the trade body which upheld a complaint Silent Pool Distillery’s Colorado High CBD Gin, the first CBD infused product to be considered by the panel.

The complaint highlighted the potential breach of two rules in the Portman Group’s Code of Practice for the Naming, Packaging and Promotion of Alcoholic Drinks that prohibit association with illegal drugs and therapeutic qualities. The panel found the product to be in breach of both rules.

“After careful consideration, the panel decided that Colorado High was in breach of two of the Code’s rules. We would urge producers to think carefully about how they place a CBD descriptor on their product’s packaging,” commented Nicola Williams, the Chair of the Independent Complaints Panel.

“It is important that CBD is viewed as an ingredient, rather than a suggestion of therapeutic or health benefits.”

The Guildford-based Silent Pool Distillery in response stated that there was no identifiable consumer harm from the product that the public needed to be protected from.

The Portman Group issued a Retailer Alert Bulletin as the company has decided not to work with the group’s advisory service on revising the product.

The alert will be sent to over 130 Signatories of the Code which includes major supermarkets and other distributors of the product. It will allow retailers to sell any remaining stock but prevent them from re-ordering the product in its problematic form after 20 April 2021.

The Portman Group added that it is currently developing guidance to aid producers in their use of CBD in alcohol products following the decision.

The panel in its decision noted that producers should give consumers information about the inclusion of CBD as an ingredient, if present, but could convey that without referring to CBD in the product name.