After issuing its first ever product recalls this fall, the Maine Office of Cannabis Policy is urging producers to make sure they understand the state’s testing and handling rules.
Deputy Director Vern Malloch said the office has determined some producers are sampling improperly, including by taking samples before the full batch is finished.
Malloch said that can lead to inaccurate testing.
“Treating it separately, and treating it differently than the rest of the batch. This is a significant problem, and something that cannot happen,” he said during a meeting with producers on Thursday.
Malloch said some producers aren’t maintaining video records of their operations for the required 45 days, making reviews more difficult.
Still, office director John Hudak said the contamination that led to recalls was often the result of simple mistakes, not producers trying to game the system.
“In many cases, it’s an operator who’s changed a process and didn’t think through that process or just made simple errors, not in a malicious way, but because, you know, accidents happen, and people are human,” Hudak said.
But Hudak and other cannabis office staff said that underscores the need for growers and producers to be vigilant at each step of the process, everything from properly sanitizing equipment to taking samples that are representative of the full batch.
The office issued three recalls earlier this year for cannabis flower. More information on the recalls can be found at the office’s website.
This article appears through a media partnership with Maine Public.
