The Times - UK (2022-04-09)

the times | Saturday April 9 2022 2GM 3

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ucts permitted, as did Cannaray, pro-

moted by Winkleman.

Being on the list does not mean a pro-

duct is safe nor does not being listed

mean it is unsafe. The FSA says the out-

come of testing will not be known until

at least next year. However, it expects

councils to act against shops selling

products that are not on the list.

It said: “If a product isn’t on the list,

retailers should remove it because it’s

not attached to a credible application

for market authorisation.” The Associa-

tion for the Cannabinoid Industry wel-

comed the move. It said: “The list is a

major milestone and will increase con-

sumer trust.”

Cellular Goods said: “We’ve been

selling our ingestibles in good faith and

firmly believe they’re fully legally com-

pliant. We’ve consulted our supplier,

Chanelle McCoy Health (CMH), and

are satisfied that we’ve met all the cur-

rent UK regulations. Moreover,

CMH’S product formulas have

achieved validated status. We’ve ap-

proached the FSA to get further confir-

mation of the position of our products.”

next movie, Emancipation, about a man

who escapes from slavery, had been set

for release this year. No update on the

film has been given since Smith struck

Rock at the ceremony on March 27

after the comedian had joked about the

A recording that captivated the nation
in the belief that a nightingale had
accompanied the cellist Beatrice Harri-
son is suspected of being faked by the
BBC using a bird impressionist.
Harrison was a leading cellist of her
generation who persuaded Lord Reith,
the BBC’s director-general, to broad-
cast a performance with a real bird.
In what is said to be the BBC’s first live
outside broadcast in 1924, she per-
formed in her Surrey garden to a million
listeners. However, experts have cast
doubt on whether a real nightingale
was responding to Harrison’s rendition
of Londonderry Air. New evidence sug-
gests the nightingales may have been

Extract in demand

6 Cannabidiol (CBD) is one of

dozens of naturally occurring

compounds found in the cannabis

plant.

6 Unlike tetrahydrocannabinol

(THC), the compound that makes

users high, CBD is non-psychotropic

and legal in the UK.

6 CBD can be extracted from hemp,

which can be grown in Britain under

licence from the Home Office.

However, strict rules that force

farmers to harvest only the stalks

and not the flower mean that most

of the compound supplying Britain’s

booming supplements market is

imported from Europe where it is

cheaper to process.

6 The CBD market in Britain was

worth £300 million in 2019 but is

now worth nearly £700 million,

according to the Association for the

Cannabinoid Industry.

6 An estimated six million Britons

have tried CBD and 1.4 million are

thought to use the extract regularly.

6 Advocates claim that CBD can

help with multiple ailments, from

anxiety to depression, amnesia to

skin blemishes, although

manufacturers are not allowed to

make medical claims on their

packaging or in marketing.

Any self-respecting celebrity seems to
have endorsed cannabis supplements
in recent years, with some even launch-
ing their own range of products.
The boxer Anthony Joshua, the Eng-
land rugby player George Kruis and the
TV hosts Claudia Winkleman and
Paddy McGuinness are among the
stars who have promoted or sold can-
nabidiol (CBD) supplements as the
market has grown from nothing to be
worth more than that for vitamin C
tablets in less than five years.
But the gold rush now appears to be
over after CBD products supported by
David Beckham and other celebrities
are among those that must be with-
drawn from sale after an investigation
by the food regulator.
The Food Standards Agency has
published a list of sanctioned CBD
supplements after reviewing whether
their manufacturers have a sufficiently
rigorous testing process to prove their
products are safe. Many brands have
failed to make the list, meaning retail-
ers will have to remove them from
shelves.
An analysis of the list shows that a
quarter of the products sold at Boots
and half those sold by Amazon will
have to be withdrawn.
More than 1.4 million Britons take
CBD, a legal and non-psychotropic
extract of the cannabis plant.
Advocates claim the extract can help
with insomnia, depression and dry
skin, among other ailments.
One of the highest profile
casualties is Cellular Goods,
part-owned by David Beck-
ham. It sells CBD capsules,
drops and sprays for up to £
but none of its ingestibles is on
the list. The company insists its
products are safe and declined to
say if it would withdraw
them from sale.
As of yesterday the
golfer Darren
Clarke’s range of
CBD products,
which includes
“forest fruit” drops
for £55, was not on
the list either. He
declined to com-
ment, although

The Times understands that his prod-

ucts may appear on the list next week.

Meg Mathews, the ex-wife of the

Oasis frontman Noel Gallagher, ap-

pears to have already withdrawn her

products. She sold CBD tablets for

menopausal women but yesterday

her supplements were not on sale.

Products backed by other stars

have fared better. Love Hemp,

endorsed by Joshua, is on the list

as is fourfive, founded by Kruis.

Naturecan, endorsed by

McGuinness, had all its prod-

Will Smith has been banned from

attending the Oscars for ten years for

slapping Chris Rock.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts

and Sciences described his conduct as

unacceptable and harmful, and said it

had overshadowed a celebration of the

industry.

The organisation, which was criti-

cised for allowing Smith, 53, to remain

in his seat after attacking Rock and

then go on stage to accept the best actor

Oscar for his role in King Richard, apol-

ogised for its handling of the situation.

After a meeting of the board of gover-

nors yesterday the academy conceded

that it had been “unprepared for the

unprecedented”.

It did not say that Smith would be in-

eligible to be nominated for Oscars. His

Smith slapped with 10-year Oscars ban

appearance of the actor’s wife, Jada

Pinkett Smith, 50. Smith had already

resigned from the body and apologised

to Rock, who had joked about Pinkett

Smith’s hair. She has alopecia.

After slapping Rock, 57, Smith said in

his acceptance speech: “I hope the aca-

demy invites me back.” He said yester-

day: “I accept and respect the aca-

demy’s decision.”

The academy had come under pres-

sure to rescind Smith’s Oscar but that

would have been unprecedented.

David Rubin, the academy’s presi-

dent, and Dawn Hudson, the chief ex-

ecutive, said in a statement: “The 94th

Oscars were meant to be a celebration

of the many individuals who did incred-

ible work this past year. Those

moments were overshadowed by the

unacceptable and harmful behaviour

we saw Smith exhibit.”

Keiran Southern Los Angeles

Whistle is blown on BBC’s

nightingale recording ‘fakery’

scared off by the crew trampling

around and that a bird mimic was used.

Jeremy Mynott, who later secured

the original recording, met a man who

convinced him that the nightingale was

his grandmother, a whistler, or siffleur,

called Maude Gould. She was known as

Madame Saberon when she performed.

A BBC Radio 3 programme, Private

Passions, to be broadcast on April 17,

explores the story and features Profes-

sor Tim Birkhead, a leading expert on

birds. Birkhead said that when Mynott

played the recording to sound experts,

“one said it sounded very odd and one

said it sounded OK”, but the sonogram

“contained unusual elements”.

“I’m convinced that it was Madame

Saberon,” he added.

Cannabis oil products lose their sheen

Supplements endorsed

by celebrities are to be

withdrawn from sale

in safety crackdown,

writes Andrew Ellson

Claudia Winkleman

promotes Cannaray.

Below left, David

Beckham part owns

Cellular Goods and

Anthony Joshua is linked

to the Love Hemp brand

Will Smith hit Chris Rock at last month’s

ceremony after a joke about his wife

Ross Kaniuk