No. A product sold as a food or drink in Australia cannot have CBD added, and no food may contain more than 75 mg/kg of CBD from natural sources.1 That is why CBD drinks of the kind sold overseas are not lawful foods here.
What does food law say?
Standard 1.4.4 of the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code allows foods made from low-THC hemp seed. It states: “Cannabidiol must not be present in any food for sale at a level greater than 75 mg/kg.” Only cannabinoids that occur naturally in the seed are allowed.1
| Hemp seed food | Maximum THC |
|---|---|
| Hemp seeds | 5 mg/kg |
| Hemp seed oil | 10 mg/kg |
| Beverages made from hemp seed | 0.2 mg/kg |
Source: Standard 1.4.4, compilation in force 12 November 2017.1 We could not confirm whether the standard has been amended since.
So a drink made from hemp seed, such as a hemp seed milk, can be sold if it meets these limits. A drink with added CBD cannot.
What can a hemp drink label say?
A label must not suggest a psychoactive effect, make a nutrition or health claim about CBD, show any part of the plant other than the seed, or use “the words ‘cannabis’, ‘marijuana’ or words of similar meaning”. The word “hemp” is allowed.1 A drink label that advertises its CBD content is not following those rules.
What happens to a drink with more CBD?
It moves out of food law and into the medicine schedules. Any product with more than 75 mg of CBD per kilogram is at least a Schedule 4 prescription-only medicine.2 See do you need a prescription for CBD oil?
Can you order CBD drinks from overseas?
Cannabinoids are prohibited imports without a licence and a permit.3 The Australian Border Force has warned that hemp and CBD products ordered from overseas “will be seized at the border and they may face prosecution”.4 See what happens if Border Force seizes your CBD?
Would a hemp seed drink give you CBD’s effects?
No. The limits are set to prevent that. At 75 mg/kg, a kilogram of any hemp food holds at most 75 mg of CBD.1 An Australian review of oral CBD doses found benefits more clearly evident only at 300 mg a day or more.5
Do hemp foods on the shelf follow the rules?
Mostly on content, less so on labels. Food Standards Australia New Zealand found 96% of hemp food products tested complied with the THC limits and 100% with the CBD limit, but 65% did not comply with the labelling rules.6
Read the full guide: hemp foods in Australia.
Footnotes
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Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code, Standard 1.4.4, Prohibited and restricted plants and fungi (compilation in force 12 November 2017). https://www.legislation.gov.au/F2015L00416/2017-11-12/2017-11-12/text/original/epub/OEBPS/document_1/document_1.html ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5
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Australian Government. Therapeutic Goods (Poisons Standard, October 2026) Instrument 2026. https://www.legislation.gov.au/F2026L01327/asmade/2026-09-30/text/original/pdf ↩
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Australian Government. Customs (Prohibited Imports) Regulations 1956, regulation 5 and Schedule 4. https://www.legislation.gov.au/F1996B03651/latest/text ↩
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Australian Border Force media release, 5 July 2021, as republished by Mirage News. https://www.miragenews.com/increase-in-seizures-prompts-warning-to-590129/ ↩
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Arnold JC, McCartney D, Suraev A, McGregor IS. The safety and efficacy of low oral doses of cannabidiol. Clinical and Translational Science, 2023. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36259271/ ↩
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Food Standards Australia New Zealand. Survey of low-THC hemp seed foods. https://www.foodstandards.gov.au/science-data/monitoring-safety/survey-of-low-THC-hemp-seed-foods ↩
This page is general information, not medical or legal advice. Laws and evidence change; we show the date we last checked the facts at the top of every page. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist before starting, stopping or changing any medicine.
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