MJBizMag April 2022 - 35

and pharmaceutical-we take those
documents and modify them to be
more cannabis-related, " Kiniry said.
He added that standards already
exist for other consumer goods, such
as coffee and lettuce. " A lot of these
so-called standards are already there.
We're just doing modifications to
standardize it for what's best for the
cannabis plant and what's best for our
customers, " he said.
2
Vet your suppliers
with COAs
Whether you're a grower, infused
product maker or retailer, you must vet
the businesses from which you source
inputs and raw materials.
One simple way to vet cannabis
suppliers is requiring them to present
a " certificate of analysis, " or COA,
which certifies that raw materials are
contaminant-free and contain " what
they say, " Gore said.
That's especially important for
product manufacturers that develop
their own recipes. " Each of our raw
materials has specifications for why
we chose that raw material. Whether
it's a sugar level or clarity or flavor or
pH, it all goes into formulating the best
end product, until we get the desired
effect that we want-whether it's taste,
texture, effects, etc., " Gore said.
Austin Brown, manufacturing
manager at High Life Farms, a
vertically integrated business in
Michigan that is expanding into
other states, also requires COAs from
cannabis suppliers. In addition,
he has a " shipping and receiving
team that quality checks " shipments
upon arrival to make sure boxes are
not damaged, open or otherwise
compromised, Brown said.
3
Independently test raw
materials for safety
Another important way to ensure the
quality of raw materials is to put them
through third-party testing before
processing.
Quality-control samples are created using live cultures to ensure testing
equipment is working appropriately. Photo by Matt Staver
High Life Farms infuses most of
its edibles with THC distillate, and a
smaller amount includes live rosin.
Before gummies, chocolates or
anything else is infused with distillate
or rosin, the extracts are sent to thirdparty
labs that check for bacteria,
microbials, metals, mold and potency.
" The medication is tested, we get
the test results back, then we produce
edibles with those medications. Then
it's sent out to those same labs one
more time for compliance testing. And
they're testing it again for potency,
microbials, metals, mold, yeast, all that
good stuff, " Brown explained.
It typically takes three to five days
to get results, and in that time, the
products are put on a " quality hold, "
Brown said. " Our packaging team
knows not to touch it, not even put it
in containers. As soon as we get those
test results back and have that green
light, and we can start selling it, it gets
packaged and sent out. "
Garden Society, which sources
distillate and creates its own from
flower purchased from independent
farmers, tests both flower and oil at
third-party labs before the materials
Erin
Gore
are processed. " We check for potency
and contaminants, with regards to
heavy metals, pesticides and all of the
contaminants that we want to avoid in
the marketplace, " Gore said.
The company tests in-house when it
can, but there are some tests that are
just too expensive for a small business
to conduct on its own, Gore said.
One such test is gas chromatographymass
spectrometry, which looks for
" analytical contaminants within a
microscopic level. " Gore said such
machinery usually costs " hundreds of
thousands-if not millions-of dollars. "
mjbizdaily.com | April 2022 35
http://www.mjbizdaily.com
MJBizMag April 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of MJBizMag April 2022
