The Trouble with Edible Testing

For instance, in California, there are approximately 30 licensed and operational cannabis laboratories that typically offer a turnaround time of between three and seven days from sample arrival. Yet, in Maryland, there are only five labs, which is more the norm, as most states outside of California have fewer than 10. “Investigation and thorough vetting of a laboratory testing partner is critical in ensuring success,” Floyd says. “Thorough and accurate testing of all raw and finished products will ensure that safe and properly labeled cannabis products are being produced and sold. A successful partnership with a licensed testing laboratory will guarantee safe products.”

Merril Gilbert, co-founder and CEO of San Francisco-based TraceTrust, a hemp and cannabis consulting organization, says numerous labs entered into legal cannabis testing from the food and beverage, nutraceutical, or pharmaceutical industries, without any true standard testing base, which is only adding to the confusion. “When you add in the variances in regulations by state, and no universal standard for testing ingestibles, that often produces conflicting results,” she says. “The gap in part is that most regulatory requirements focus on the plant extractions—concentrations of THC and CBD, pesticides, molds, solvents—and not on all the ingredients for the entire life cycle of a product.

There is a massive demand for testing and not enough licensed laboratories to fulfill market needs. Floyd notes that much of the method development for cannabis testing was established from academics and does not always translate to commercial testing. “Proper and consistent sample preparation are among the largest issues in the industry currently,” he says. “This can lead to huge variations in results from lab to lab. Currently, it’s up to the lab to develop methods for testing cannabis. These methods are vetted by the state prior to licensing.”

Edible Testing Issues

The cannabis market is still relatively new and the laws dictate that edibles be tested prior to packaging. Unfortunately, there’s little enforcement beyond this. The California Department of Public Health stipulated that single-serving edibles products cannot exceed 10 mg of THC, and packages of edibles cannot exceed 100 mg of THC. Other states have different requirements.

While products purchased through a legal licensed retailer have gone through rigorous testing for THC and CBD, Gilbert notes that what is not clear to the consumer is how the product will affect them. “Generally, when someone has an alcoholic drink, they have a point of reference for how they will feel,” she says. “New and returning consumers to cannabis and CBD hemp don’t have that and will share stories of unpleasant experiences. As an industry, we must unite on common terminology and know that, for many of us, this is a goal for 2020 to provide more consumer and retailer education. There isn’t enough consumer information—including on the label—that can explain when the onset and offset of the experience may happen.”

Gilbert advises clients not to choose a lab strictly by price and not to jump around among different ones. “The success and longevity of the product should be based on building a relationship with the lab,” she says. “[The lab] develops a product profile and provides points of reference over time and can often spot variances, allowing time for corrective actions.”

A Look Ahead

No one seems to have a quick, tight answer to how long it will be before cannabis testing regulations are more strictly defined. “Research is just beginning,” Gilbert says. “As an industry, we’re innovating and developing very quickly. It’s amazing.”