Testing natural products is not a standard practice

Did you know that only 13% of CBD brands test their products for purity and potency? (Leaf Report)

Also, about 42% of CBD products are under-labeled (JAMA). These statistics are very shocking!

That’s why Radicle Science includes a compliance assessment and testing partner in the studies to validate natural products in order to ensure participant safety and add credibility to the data. Meet our independent lab testing partner, Anresco Laboratories!

With over 78 years of experience, Anresco provides comprehensive analytical testing services and high-quality analytical data that is ethical and accurate.

We recently interviewed Zachary Eisenberg, Vice-President of Anresco, on the importance of testing and transparency.

Here is the interview!

The industry

1. Why is testing so important for the cannabis industry?

– Cannabis is an incredibly valuable commodity, as are the products derived from and infused with it. That increases the pressure on cultivators and manufacturers to maximize yields and margins by any means possible, whether that be using pesticides to kill insects, bacterium, and mold; diluting extracts with vitamin e acetate and other fillers; or utilizing cheap lead-containing cartridges from China. What we see time and time again is that in the absence of testing, significant quality and safety issues persist, and that limits the legitimacy and successfulness of the industry as a whole.

Transparency and evidence-based

2. How does Anresco combat potential falsification of documents in order to ensure label accuracy of CBD products?

– Unfortunately there have been a number of instances of individuals and companies doctoring our certificates of analysis (COAs) in the past — employing varying degrees of sophistication. To combat this we provide a QR code on all of our consolidated COAs so end consumers can scan and verify the legitimacy of the results they are receiving. Furthermore we place a lock on all of our COAs so they cannot be edited in Adobe or other pdf editing softwares. Last, if anyone asks us to confirm the authenticity of one of our reports, we will advise them ‘yes’ or ‘no’ (without disclosing any proprietary information on our customer of course).

3. Over the years, how has Anresco been able to strengthen the trust and credibility of their customers?

– Anresco has a long history working in regulated industries. With our food import detention testing, our work is issued directly to the FDA along with sometimes hundreds of pages of supporting data. Accuracy is paramount because if we issue a false positive, then the FDA will not permit the product’s sale and our customer will incur a substantial financial loss. Conversely if we issue a false negative, then we put the general public at risk and the FDA may suspend our ability to perform such testing in the future.

The system is not so different from cannabis R&D and compliance testing. Our cannabinoid and contaminant testing results have a direct bearing on our client’s ability to sell their product and sometimes at what price — a responsibility we take extremely seriously. Here are a few ways we may be differentiated from other labs:

• We’ve been ISO 17025 Accredited since 2010 and had all routine analyses included in our Scope of Accreditation far before it was ever required by the BCC (now DCC).
• We will work directly with customers making novel or infused products, to develop a custom method that will yield consistent and accurate results for them.
• Any contaminant finding automatically triggers reanalysis, oftentimes running a different method or instrument to eliminate the possibility of false positives.
• If a customer disagrees with one of our results, we will retest it for free. If the discrepancy still exists, we will retest a new sample they submit, again at no cost. If there is still a discrepancy, we will split the sample and send it to another licensed cannabis laboratory for confirmation, at no cost.

We want our customers to be 100% confident in our results and go out of our way to be attentive to their concerns.

Purpose-driven

4. Over the years, how has Anresco expanded its analytical testing capabilities?

– Anresco has an atypical history relative to most other cannabis laboratories. It was founded by my grandfather all the way back in 1943. He chose the name “Anresco” — an acronym for “Analysis, Research, Consulting” — and advised his goal for the company was to “increase the stock and store of human knowledge.” So, while his initial clients were in the baking industry, Anresco’s scope of capabilities expanded to new areas as demand and his curiosity dictated:

• Nutritional labeling in 1973
• FDA DWPE import testing in 1982
• Pesticide residue screening in 1986
• Microbiology testing in 1991
• Cannabis/hemp testing in 2015
• Mask and ventilator testing in 2020

Due to our background in food testing, we provide a number of services that no other cannabis laboratory is set up to perform. And we are always on the lookout for additional capabilities that provide value to our customers.

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