Chef Alex Tretter carries a tray of cannabis-infused peanut butter and jelly cups to the oven for baking, at Sweet Grass Kitchen, a well-established gourmet marijuana edibles bakery which sells its confections to retail outlets, in Denver in this June 19, 2014 photo. Sweet Grass Kitchen, like other cannabis food producers in the state, is held to rigorous health inspection standards, and has received praise from inspectors, according to owner Julie Berliner.DENVER – The marijuana in those pot brownies isn’t the only thing that can potentially make consumers sick. The industry and regulators are taking a closer look at how pot-infused edibles are actually made.
The thriving edible marijuana industry In Colorado is preparing for new testing requirements – due to take in effect in October – to make sure the products are safe to eat and drink.
While consuming too much of an edible has been connected to at least one death and a handful of hospital visits since retail recreational sales began in January, officials say there have been no reports of anyone getting a food-borne illness from edibles.
Still, activists, producers and officials agree that safety testing is long overdue for a sector of the new pot market that, according to one industry estimate, has seen the sale of at least 8 million pieces this year.
Food safety testing is necessary “to building any sort of credibility for the industry … to create that public confidence that we’re not just a bunch of stupid kids throwing marijuana into cookies and putting them on the market,” said Jazzmine Hall-Oldham, general manager of Bakked, which makes cannabis concentrates and pot-infused chocolate bars.