Looking at the Food and Supplement Industries for Guidance on Hemp Testing Regulations
Looking at the Food and Supplement Industries for Guidance on Hemp Testing Regulations
Why Should You Test Your Hemp Products?
The regulation of hemp and hemp-derived products are currently in a patchwork form with the USDA offering some guidelines under the 2018 Farm Bill and each State layering on their own regulations. The end result for hemp companies, like yourself, is ultimately confusion as you try to sort out what regulations you need to follow today and plan for the final regulations coming in the near future. In this article, we will make the case for a testing program for your hemp business that you can implement today that will help prepare you for the regulations to come.
Comparing Hemp Testing Regulations vs Food and Dietary Supplement Regulations
As a testing company that has been servicing the food and supplement industry for over 80 years in the US, we had a lot of institutional knowledge to pull from when researching for this article. Below you will find relevant and summarized regulations for food crops, products, and supplements that we think will be relevant to the final regulations on hemp crops, as well as hemp and CBD based products.
Federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act 21 U.S. Code § 342 - Adulterated Food
Using Pesticides as an example within this regulation:
Section 342(a)(2)(B): A raw agricultural commodity or a processed food or feed is deemed adulterated and subject to enforcement if it contains either:
a. a pesticide residue at a level greater than that specified by a tolerance or food additive regulation
b. a pesticide for which there is no tolerance, tolerance exemption, or food additive regulation
What does this mean for your hemp or CBD product?
Regardless of where in the supply chain your hemp product sits, you should have it tested for pesticides. There is an extensive list of pesticides and some variation state to state on which ones are required, so determining the right pesticide screen for your hemp products can feel overwhelming. Don’t worry though, at Eurofins we are ready and willing to help you navigate the world of hemp pesticide testing.
Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA)
FDA Quote “Manufacturers and distributors of dietary supplements and dietary ingredients are prohibited from marketing products that are adulterated or misbranded. That means that these firms are responsible for evaluating the safety and labeling of their products before marketing to ensure that they meet all the requirements of DSHEA and FDA regulations.”
What is an adulterated or misbranded hemp product? How can testing help you avoid these issues?
There are very precise and exact definitions for adulterated and misbranded products set forth by the FDA and we ensure our hemp testing methods are accredited to meet and exceed those standards but for this article, we will look at simplified explanations.
Adulteration - A product is considered adulterated if it contains ingredients or components that are harmful for a human to ingest. A product can be intentionally or unintentionally adulterated.
Misbranded - Misbranding occurs when a company fails to list an ingredient present in the product on the label or if the quantity listed on the label is higher or lower than the actual amount.
So, how can testing help you avoid these two pitfalls? By testing for the presence of known adulterants such as pesticides, residual solvents, or mycotoxins you can ensure your hemp products are safe for your customers to consume.
You can avoid marketing a misbranded hemp product through testing as well! Depending on your product you can test for the amounts of THC, CBD, and other cannabinoids that will be listed on your label. If your product is edible you can test for nutritional values and vitamins in addition to cannabinoid testing.
Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) 2011
- Inclusion of contaminants, specifically chemical hazards in Food Safety Plan
- Risk-based hazards analysis
- Supplier Verification
With the last major update to our food regulations, the FDA looked to shore up our food supply and ensure companies were taking appropriate measures to keep our food supply safe. Now you may be asking yourself, why would this apply to my hemp company if I am not selling a food product? We highlighted the above from FSMA because as the new standard for safety, it is likely these provisions will be included in any national hemp regulations.
So what do these highlights mean and how can you apply them to your hemp business?
Risk-based analyses and the inclusion of chemical contaminants in a safety plan go hand in hand. Risk-based analysis is a product-focused type of safety planning in which you take into account the various additional risk factors associated specifically with your product.
Hemp extract for example is typically produced by extraction using a solvent (chemical hazard) and the presence of these solvents above certain levels after extraction is unsafe. Understanding this risk and putting a plan in place to ensure your products never have unsafe levels of these solvents, including testing the final extracts is an example of risk-based hazard analysis.
Supplier verification is an important new addition from FSMA. Simply speaking, supplier verification is a process by which you test your supplier's products to verify that the information and certificates of analysis they provide are correct and accurate. Imagine being told an extract you were purchasing had 30% CBD and it turned out to only have 20% CBD or they touted their product being free of solvents but in reality, they still had trace amounts of ethanol. Supplier verification not only protects your business from fraud but ensures safe and accurate products end up in the hands of your consumers.
