Since 2024, the number of cases of poisoning involving the consumption of cannabidiol (CBD) products has increased significantly. These products are sold in stores, in vending machines and on the Internet in the form of e-liquid for electronic cigarettes, smokable products, food supplements and foodstuffs (oils, capsules, sweets, chocolate, etc.). Most of these cases of poisoning are caused by prohibited substances (synthetic cannabinoids) contained in these products without the consumer’s knowledge, or by THC levels above 0.3%. The ANSM and ANSES are drawing attention to these risks.

Liquorice is used as an ingredient in certain food supplements and as a flavouring in beverages and foods. Following numerous reports of adverse effects, some of them severe, ANSES assessed the risks associated with the consumption of products containing liquorice. Its expert appraisal shows that repeated high consumption of beverages and foods containing liquorice can lead to hypokalaemia (a drop in blood potassium levels) and high blood pressure, thereby increasing cardiovascular risk. Some people are particularly sensitive: pregnant or breastfeeding women, children, people with cardiovascular problems (such as hypertension), or kidney or liver problems. ANSES recommends that food labels indicate the presence of liquorice or its main active ingredient, glycyrrhizinic acid, even in small quantities.

Some forms of arsenic are toxic and even carcinogenic. ANSES’s Laboratory for Food Safety has developed an innovative method that will enable their concentration in different foods to be more accurately measured. This breakthrough will enhance the assessment of consumer exposure and health risks.

In 2020, a new genotype of swine influenza virus, responsible for swine flu, emerged in France and quickly replaced certain previous strains. Scientists at ANSES’s Ploufragan-Plouzané-Niort Laboratory conducted a study to understand how this rapid change could have occurred. The emergence of a new genotype poses a risk to the health of pigs and humans alike.