Hemp tea: the new EU limit hits the leaf, not the cup

From 1 January 2027, the EU will apply a THC maximum to hemp leaf tea for the first time: 40 milligrams per kilogram of dried leaves. In a German study, commercially sold teas averaged five times that. The odd part: almost none of it reaches the cup.

What the regulation says

Regulation (EU) 2026/1828 was adopted on 28 July 2026, published in the Official Journal on 29 July and applies from 1 January 2027. It adds two entries to the contaminant regulation (EU) 2023/915:

• Hemp leaves for water infusions: 40 mg/kg, calculated as delta-9-THC equivalent.
• Ready-to-drink hemp leaf infusions: 0.02 mg/kg.

The second value covers drinks sold ready in a bottle. The first covers what sits on the shelf: dried leaves you steep yourself.

The arithmetic matters in practice. "Delta-9-THC equivalent" is not just delta-9-THC. It is the sum of delta-9-THC and 0.877 times delta-9-THC acid (THCA). In the dried leaf the substance is mostly present as the acid. Anyone measuring only THC underestimates how strict the limit is.

The finding that drives the debate

Germany's Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) tested 23 commercially available hemp teas in 2023. Delta-9-THC levels ranged from 16 to 935 milligrams per kilogram, with a mean of 221. The new limit is 40.

The same study measured how much of that actually transfers into the water: 0.5 per cent on average. THC is fat-soluble, not water-soluble. After five minutes of steeping under a DIN protocol, the rest stays in the leaf.

The researchers translated this into a scale: to exceed the acute reference dose of 1 microgram of THC per kilogram of body weight, a person weighing 60 kilos would have to drink around 14 litres of hemp tea a day. With the tea that had the highest measured content, 0.9 litres would be enough.

That is the heart of the dispute. A strict limit on the leaf adds little health protection when the drink already has its own, very low limit. The European Industrial Hemp Association (EIHA) argues exactly that and wants at least 400 milligrams per kilogram for dried leaves instead of 40. For heated non-alcoholic drinks the association had proposed 0.08 mg/kg; what came through is four times stricter.

What happens to stock on the shelf

The regulation contains a transition rule, and it sits in the legal text, not merely in a recital: food lawfully placed on the market before 1 January 2027 may remain on the market until its minimum durability or use-by date. A recall wave at the turn of the year is not built into the rule.

Two details are often stretched. The rule allows goods to stay on the market. It does not allow further production and first placing on the market after the cut-off. And it hinges on lawful placing on the market before that date, not on the production date.

The effect is already visible among producers. The Austrian supplier Hanfland is withdrawing its "Purer Hanfgenuss", which consists of 100 per cent hemp leaves, at the end of the year, along with two blends that contain one third hemp leaf. The company says the value cannot be met to its knowledge, and that there is no time for new packaging for the blends. Its nutrition scientist says plainly that she would have wanted more lead time.

Three sentences on the pack

From 2027, hemp leaves for water infusion must carry three notices, on the front and in a prescribed minimum font size:

• To be used only for infusions with water (herbal tea preparation).
• Not to be consumed by infants and young children.
• No fatty ingredients such as cream or milk may be added during steeping.

The third notice follows the same logic as the low limit for the drink. Fat dissolves THC far better than water. Anyone adding milk to hemp tea extracts more of the active substance, which is precisely what the rule is meant to prevent.

What it means for other hemp products

Until 2023, hemp leaf tea was a gap in EU food law. The Commission had confirmed that water infusions of hemp leaves without flowering or fruiting tops are not a novel food and need no novel food authorisation. But limits existed only for seeds: 3 milligrams per kilogram for seeds, flour and protein, 7.5 milligrams per kilogram for oil. Leaves were never covered.

That is changing now, with a side effect: the EU recognises the hemp leaf infusion as a traditional food and regulates it tightly at the same time. For the industry, it is both.

Open questions

• How strictly will member states enforce it? The regulation does not override stricter national rules, so a single market for hemp leaves does not follow automatically.
• How will laboratories handle the equivalent calculation? Will THC and THCA be determined separately and combined by formula, or will simplified measurements remain?
• What happens to blends in which hemp leaf makes up only a third? Labelling duties apply, but whether a batch can be sold depends on that batch.
• And the political question: does it stay at 40 milligrams, or does the Commission move if EIHA goes to court?

Facts and interpretation: The limits, the date, the calculation method and the transition rule are set out in Regulation (EU) 2026/1828 and in the contaminant regulation (EU) 2023/915. The levels found in commercial hemp tea and the transfer rate come from the 2023 BfR study (Food Additives & Contaminants: Part A). The call for 400 milligrams is an industry association position, not applicable law. The reading that the limit attaches to the leaf rather than the cup is an interpretation of that data, not a statement by authorities. This article is not legal advice and makes no health or efficacy claim.

Sources: Regulation (EU) 2026/1828, EUR-Lex; BfR press release 33/2023; Hanf Magazin on the regulation. As of 2 November 2026.