Some cannabis products in CT use radiation without labeling

Under current Connecticut law, a sample of cannabis intended for medical use that contains too many microbes or fungi cannot be remediated.

Some Connecticut cannabis companies get around these regulations by irradiating each product before it is sold, although that fact is not stated on the labels as in other states.

That could change soon. A provision in a sweeping piece of cannabis legislation being considered would codify what those cannabis producers have been doing all along, forcing companies to label any irradiated product as such.

Radiation is a common strategy to combat sometimes dangerous microbes in cannabis and other products, including food, but current regulations in Connecticut are specific about when that strategy can be used, especially for medical cannabis.

“You’re not supposed to test, fail, and then recover medically, but you can recover right away,” says Ben Zachs, president of Fine Fettle. “There are many operators across the country who, to ensure they pass the tests, will restore whether they need to or not.”

Not every cannabis grower in Connecticut uses radiation to ensure acceptable levels of microbes and fungi. Rino Ferrarese, who runs Affinity Grow in Portland, confirmed that they do not irradiate their products.

Zachs, who is currently building a cultivation facility, said that is not in his plans.

“We don’t like to remediate because we don’t want to. First of all, and second of all, the general data on remediation is that it’s really bad for the terpene profiles and the taste and smell,” he said. “We think this is a core component of the product.”

Rodeo Cannabis, which operates the state’s only outdoor cannabis growing facility, does: Co-founder Art Linares confirmed that every product goes through the company’s $500,000 radiation machine.

“It removes the microbials. It adds nothing to the product,” he says. “It kills every type of microbial agent that exists.”

Under current Connecticut standards, cannabis containing Aspergillus, E. coli or Salmonella cannot be sold, and mold cannot exceed 1 million colony-forming units per gram (CFU/g).

Rodeo is not alone. Radiation is a common method of microbe management in both the cannabis and food industries. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved food irradiation as a safe and effective process, but “all irradiated foods must display the Radura symbol to let consumers know that the product has been treated with irradiation,” according to the FDA website.

Tess Eidem, a professor of microbiology at the University of Colorado Boulder and a former lab manager for cannabis companies, said cannabis companies are using remediation inappropriately.

“In terms of food safety, you cannot bring back a product that is spoiled or contains a known pathogen,” she said. “In cannabis, you can basically take an infected product or a product that has been poorly treated, it has human pathogens on it, and you can zap it with radiation or bathe it in ozone, heat it up with radio frequency and test it as long as it meets the requirements, then you can sell it to consumers.

“A manufacturer will just put everything into it, everything, because they know they’re going to fail,” she said.

Eidem noted that the United States Pharmacopeia, an official list of medical products and procedures, “prohibits the technology from being used in the manner in which they are used, which is to recover contaminated products or products that are likely to fail.”

A 2020 article written by Nandakumara D. Sarma of the United States Pharmacopeia’s Department of Dietary Supplements and Herbal Medicines says that “Treatment methods such as irradiation should not be used as a means of remediating cannabis that has been contaminated above permissible limits. “

Department of Consumer Protection spokesperson Kaitlyn Krasselt confirmed that DCP is aware of the use of radiation, and state Rep. Mike D’Agostino, D-Hamden, co-chair of the Legislature’s General Law Committee, said, “DCP handles that , supervises this, is aware of the radiation tests.”

D’Agostino said a bill currently being considered by the Legislature — approved this week by a large majority in the state House — would require labeling of the risks posed by mold and other microbes, and require customers to be notified of possible solutions.

The bill would also allow growers to recover cannabis after testing fails, and then retest.

“We have a zero tolerance standard for Aspergillus, the standard that really makes people sick,” he said. “But you can also have other types of molds, and we wanted to make sure consumers are aware of that too. I would like to have a zero-tolerance policy across the board, but that would kill the industry because they simply wouldn’t be able to bring any product to market.”