Last week the trade publication, Food Safety News, posted a fantastic piece on Colorado’s “Weed Wacker,” Kimberly Stuck. Stuck is the Denver Department of Public Health and Safety’s first marijuana specialist, and she was brought on to assure that plant-touching manufacturers of products such as edibles are meeting compliance requirements from the state. The article is worth the entire read, particularly for anyone who is in the edible business, but here are some points that stuck out to us and how they fit into the scope of the current cannabis compliance scene.
Regulations Are Still Uneven On A State-To-State Basis
Across different state lines, there’s still ambiguity and confusion on what businesses need to be doing to be meeting compliance requirements for their edibles and other cannabis products. While it would of course be much easier if there were, say, federal requirements; legalization and regulation on a federal level is still ages away from happening. Stuck’s message to plant-touching businesses? Be proactive in meeting all regulations on a local and state level. Have questions? MMLG literally exists to help businesses with these exact kinds of issues. Speaking of regulations…
Testing Labs Are Becoming More and More Relevant Every Day
From THC and CBD amounts to screening for molds and bacterium, testing laboratories are a vital cog in not only regulation and compliance, but also in ensuring public health. As we wrote about last month, California testing labs are anticipating a serious crunch of resources beginning this summer on July 1. California’s quasi-grace period for PTBs to get their products’ regulatory ducks in a row comes to a close on July 1 and if you haven’t been tested by a state-certified testing facility, you’re going to be waiting in line.
California’s testing labs are introducing more and more stringent tests on a progressive level. Beginning in 2019, testing labs will not only be testing for some of the problem items already being screened for but also items such as: organic matter such as hairs and insects, additional heavy metals, residual cleaning agents and pesticides and others.
Are Regulatory Officials Doing Enough For Food-Borne Pathogens In Cannabis?
One interesting point that Stuck brings up is the concern over disease agents such as E. Coli and norovirus. While traditional rendering and manufacturing processes for, say, a cannabis gummy edible will eliminate the risk of virtually all bacteria and viruses, the risk is there for a careless a pastry chef to be concocting a cannabis flan and for an unwanted and unpleasant pathogen to be introduced that way. While it takes some conjecture to envision that specific scenario, Stuck has a practical message that should be familiar to all plant-touching businesses: Train your employees for best practices when it comes to all aspects of sanitation and hygiene. Clean your equipment, wash your hands, cover your mouth (with your elbows) when you sneeze. Cleanliness is godliness, after all.