It took four years for Maine to issue its first recall of contaminated cannabis in the recreational market, but it only took two months for the second and third.
The Maine Office of Cannabis Policy has issued three recalls – and one recall expansion – for products that failed mandatory yeast and mold tests. And more could be coming as the office ramps up audit testing.
The first recall, for flower from Cannabis Cured, was announced Sept. 10. The second recall and subsequent expansion came shortly after, on Oct. 11 and 24, concerning products from Nova Farms. The most recent recall, issued Nov. 7, was for cannabis from Leb City Greeneries. All the recalls were for smokable cannabis ranging from flower and pre-ground flower to pre-rolls and blunts.
The office has released little information about the recalls, including which specific yeasts and molds were found in the samples, the level of contaminants (the limit is 10,000 colony-forming units per gram), and how the products made it to the market in the first place.
MORE TESTING
While the recalls are still under investigation, the office said in an email Friday that the products were contaminated in one of two ways.
“Licensees have either made mistakes in how they take samples and/or use remediation and pre-treatment technology, or they have purposely neglected their responsibilities in these areas,” the office said.
The office has recently increased efforts to perform random-audit testing of products that have recently passed initial tests, the agency said, and this increase in testing led to two of the three recalls. The other was caught during a review process the office uses “to ensure products are properly sampled and tested.”
Not every cannabis product on a store’s shelf has been individually tested. Rather, cultivators and manufacturers are required to submit “representative” samples of each batch. Sample sizes vary based on product and batch size and must be taken from multiple parts of the product. For cannabis flower, pre-roll and trim, for example, sample sizes range from 6.5 grams for a 2.5-kilogram batch to 22 grams for a 10-kilogram batch.
Yeast and mold are the most common contaminants that cause a sample to fail a test, and mold is the hardest test to pass because it’s so prevalent in the natural world.
According to the Office of Cannabis Policy, cultivators are increasingly treating products before the initial round of testing to reduce yeast and mold contamination. In some cases, they’ve treated the samples, which respond better to treatment and are more likely to pass testing than large batches.
“It is not permissible under program rules for any sample to be treated after it has been taken from the batch,” the office said. “While OCP remains confident that the vast majority of licensees are doing the right thing and meeting their regulatory responsibilities, the audit samples and subsequent recalls have highlighted that gaps do exist for some licensees.”
The office is working to produce educational materials and opportunities to reinforce the best practices for sampling, handling and remediation.
Matt Hawes, co-founder of the Maine Cannabis Industry Association, doesn’t knock the office for the recent recalls – the increase in testing signals a shift in priorities, he said, and testing makes sense for a relatively new government agency.
