• Login
    • Join
  • Subscribe Free
    • Magazine
    • eNewsletter
    Checkout
    • Magazine
    • News
    • Formulary
    • Exclusives
    • Top Companies
    • Raw Materials
    • End-User
    • Packaging
    • Directories
    • Events
    • Jobs
    • More
  • Magazine
  • News
  • Formulary
  • Exclusives
  • Top Companies
  • Raw Materials
  • End-User
  • Packaging
  • Directories
  • Events
  • Jobs
  • Current / Back Issues
    Features
    Columns
    Editorial
    Digital Edition
    eNewsletter Archive
    Our Team
    Editorial Guidelines
    Subscribe Now
    Advertise Now
    Top Features
    Help for Indies

    The Future Has Arrived

    Shape It Up

    Stepping into the Spotlight for 2021

    The Independent Beauty Association Supports Sensible Reform
    Online Exclusives
    Association News
    Breaking News
    Financial News
    Industry News
    International
    Marketing News
    New Products
    News Front
    Packaging News
    Patents
    Personnel
    Regulations
    Snapshots
    Top News
    Live From Shows
    Top News
    What You're Reading on Happi.com

    Cosmetic Chemical Sales To Post CAGR 5.8% To 2025

    ACI Urges Senate to Approve Regan as EPA Administrator

    Estée Lauder Signs Actress Ana de Armas

    GUM Recalls Oral Spray
    Blog
    Online Exclusives
    Infographics
    Podcasts
    Whitepapers
    Videos
    Expert's Opinion
    HappiTV
    eBook
    Surveys
    International Top 30 Report
    Top 50 Report
    Top Companies
    26. McBride plc

    26. John Paul Mitchell Systems

    4. SC Johnson

    33. Markwins

    18. Nu Skin Enterprises
    Actives
    Functional Ingredients
    Pigments
    Polymers
    Preservatives
    Surfactants

    What You're Reading on Happi.com

    Cosmetic Chemical Sales To Post CAGR 5.8% To 2025

    Freckle Pens Are Spot On!

    Are Chemists the Rock Stars of Beauty?

    Sales More Than Double at Madison Reed
    Air Care/Environmental Fragrance
    AP/Deo
    Color Cosmetics
    Disinfectants
    Fine Fragrance
    Hair Care
    Household Cleaning
    I&I Marketplace
    Laundry Care
    Oral Care
    OTC/Medicated
    Packaging
    Personal Cleansers
    Skin Care
    Sun Care
    Testing

    What You're Reading on Happi.com

    Improve Your Innovation Process

    Cosmetic Chemical Sales To Post CAGR 5.8% To 2025

    ACI Urges Senate to Approve Regan as EPA Administrator

    Estée Lauder Signs Actress Ana de Armas
    Lab Equipment
    Mixing
    Packaging
    Testing

    Burt’s Bees Outlines New Sustainability Goals

    Secret, Old Spice Add Refillable Deo Packaging

    Estée Lauder Travel Retail's Sustainability Goals

    Ross Introduces Double Cone Tumble Blender

    Happi Talks: Overnight Labels
    Contract Manufacturing / Private Label Directory
    Buyer's Guide
    Add New Company
    Corporate Profiles
    International Buyers Guide Companies
    LipoTrue Inc.

    Resolute Oil

    Siltech Corporation

    BotanicalsPlus

    Ashland
    Live From Shows
    Meetings
    Webinars
    Snapshots
    • Magazine
      • Current / Back Issues
      • Features
      • Editorial
      • Columns
      • Digital Edition
      • eNewsletter Archive
      • Subscribe Now
      • Advertise Now
    • Breaking News
    • Formulary
    • Directories
      • Buyer's Guide
      • Contract Manufacturing / Private Label Directory
      • Corporate Profiles
      • Add Your Company
    • Raw Materials
      • Actives
      • Functional Ingredients
      • Pigments
      • Polymers
      • Preservatives
      • Surfactants
    • End-User
      • Air Care/Environmental Fragrance
      • AP/Deo
      • Color Cosmetics
      • Disinfectants
      • Fine Fragrance
      • Hair Care
      • Household Cleaning
      • I&I Marketplace
      • Laundry Care
      • Oral Care
      • OTC/Medicated
      • Packaging
      • Personal Cleansers
      • Skin Care
      • Sun Care
      • Testing
    • Packaging
      • Lab Equipment
      • Mixing
      • Packaging
      • Testing
    • Top Companies
      • International Top 30 Report
      • Top 50 Report
    • Online Exclusives
    • Experts Opinion
    • Slideshows
    • HappiTV
    • Videos
    • Podcasts
    • eBook
    • Infographics
    • Blog
    • Whitepapers
    • Surveys
      • R & D Salary Survey
      • Sales & Marketing Salary Survey
    • Job Banks
    • Events
      • Industry Events
      • Live from show Events
      • Webinars
    • About Us
      • About Us
      • Contact Us
      • Advertise With Us
      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms of Use
    Features

    Positive Indicators: Selecting a Hemp Testing Lab

    In an evolving marketplace with unique challenges, qualified labs can help confirm product safety and integrity.

    Positive Indicators: Selecting a Hemp Testing Lab
    By Jesse Miller, PhD, Director of Research & Development, Hemp Services, NSF International04.10.20
    An accurate, reliable and reproducible testing pathway for hemp materials is imperative for farmers, processors, manufacturers and consumers. However, robust testing and safety assessments for this important crop are still in development, and manufacturers in need of testing may feel at sea when so much remains undefined. Rather than obsessing over the unresolved, manufacturers should focus on what can be measured: indicators that a testing organization will provide quality results that aid in producing a safer product for the market. Here are some key indicators that a testing facility is up to the unique challenges of the hemp marketplace.


    ISO/IEC 17025 Accreditation

    Because CBD products are novel and testing standards are still in development, manufacturers thirst for something—anything—to instill confidence in a testing facility. ISO/IEC accreditation helps assuage the anxiety that comes with bringing these products to market. Accreditation to ISO/IEC 17025 ensures a lab is technically competent to perform testing and calibration. It illustrates a lab’s commitment to upholding standards and quality systems and producing consistent and scientifically valid results. It is a baseline requirement for labs that operate at a standard designed to protect consumer safety and the integrity of a product’s brand.


    Validated Methods

    AOAC International’s Cannabis Analytical Science Program has been developing methods for a variety of different matrices; a biomass matrix is complete and one for residual solvents is underway. The goal is to develop methods that are vetted by expert scientists and that can be used industry wide. Some of the challenge comes from the sheer volume of methods required. A validation method is individualized by product, whether tablet, oil, gel capsule, gummy or any of the other constructs flooding the CBD market.

    Since many of these validated methods are still under construction, confirm with a testing lab that it is following AOAC validated methods and will continuously update its testing as validated methods are approved and released. Until a complete set of validated matrices is readily available, manufacturers should confirm a testing organization’s use of current-state validated methods and how they are applied.

    High-performing labs should also be able to do a method verification for specific matrices in order to provide as much accuracy as possible. Manufacturers may see irregular or inconsistent results because the validated methods for testing products simply don’t exist yet and labs may be using best-guess methods that don’t account for variables such as biomass extraction. For example, if validated methods exist for products using coconut oil, and a manufacturer’s new product contains palm oil, a lab should have the expertise to be able to do a comparative validation to ensure that the ingredient works within the reigning standard, by using a like-matrix.


    Quality Control

    Testing organizations should be running positive and negative controls and standards with tests so that every run provides additional information against which to compare current and future results. Every test report should provide the standards of positive/negative controls to provide essential reference data, avoiding a litany of numbers within a profile with no foundation for whether they are changing over time. Data presented in a vacuum without quality control reference is significantly less useful data.

    Further, hemp is a bioaggregator and a bioaccumulator, drawing pesticides and metals from the soil and concentrating them. In addition to THC levels, testing results should include data on these and other potential adulterants. This is an argument for lot-by-lot testing as different environments produce different results for botanicals. A product’s potential benefit is meaningless if unsafe adulterant levels are present, and the interest of public health demands they be discovered and addressed before a product reaches the marketplace.


    Total THC Analysis

    It sounds basic, but manufacturers must know precisely how much THC is in their product, and that amount is the sum of several factors, including THC and THC acid (THCA), which is also present. If lab results don’t show a number for THCA as well as THC, or simply report total THC without breaking down the contributing factors, consider that a warning sign. A test method should provide these numbers individually and in total, and in the spirit of elementary school mathematics, labs should “show their work.” Liquid chromatography testing produces counts for both THC and THCA, offering a clear, validated process for how a lab arrives at total THC. If a lab has validated its method properly, this data is both obtainable and reportable.


    Limited Detections & Limited Quantifications

    Be wary of the word “nondetect,” often listed as “ND” on a test report. A test report may indicate nondetect for a chemical, but that may be because the method did not detect the target chemical. It’s misleading, as the manufacturer may think it is receiving a zero-level for a chemical when really it’s just below the limit of detection for the method. If a manufacturer is going to the expense of testing to understand the profile of a product for CBD-specific factors such as terpenes and cannabidiols (that’s why they’re in the product, after all), the test should be able to detect them, even if they are at less than 0.1%. For example, if the limit of detection is 0.05%, manufacturers may receive a report that says nondetect, because the method is not structured to detect that chemical at that level—or at all. But when that ingredient is concentrated, the manufacturer has no actual idea how much chemical it has in its product. If the initial testing comes up with a lot of nondetect numbers, concentration can unwittingly push certain cannabinoids over the lawful limit or boost the number of unsafe metals or pesticides.

    An additional note about concentration: It is possible that a manufacturing process could concentrate the product in the middle of the process, and then take steps to reduce the THC so that it falls below the legal threshold. If the final product meets the less than 0.3% threshold before the process and after the process, all is well. But if the DEA or FDA decides to test a product at that high-concentration-point in the process, the risk falls on the manufacturer.


    DEA License

    While a DEA license is not required for the manufacturer of a dietary supplement, it is an indicator of the lab’s experience and standard reference. Consider it one of the preferred, but not required components of a testing organization’s resume. It is required for testing hemp biomass and its presence is reassuring for other products.


    Claims & the FDA

    The regulations are clear that dietary supplement manufacturers cannot make medical claims about their products, and yet in the first six weeks of 2020 the FDA sent multiple warning letters to manufacturers about claims of curing disease. CBD isolate has been used as a drug, but at the same time there is subtle differentiation between broad-spectrum and full-spectrum hemp extract vs. CBD isolate. Manufacturers should look for testing labs that keep a keen eye on FDA warning letters and how that may affect product marketability, especially if a product is differentiated in the market by the measurement of certain cannabinoids. As the industry develops methods, labs should also continually develop the ability to show results that support product safety and quality. 


    Jesse Miller, PhD, is director of research and development for Hemp Services at NSF International, a global public health and safety organization. He holds a doctorate in microbiology, with additional expertise in molecular biology and next-generation sequencing.
    Related Searches
    • biomass
    • acid
    • method
    • science
    Related Knowledge Center
    • Functional Ingredients
    • Skin Care
    • Actives

    Related Features

    • Color Cosmetics | Skin Care
      Help for Indies

      Help for Indies

      The Independent Beauty Association has been entrepreneurs’ go-to source for industry information and business guidance for decades.
      Tom Branna, Editorial Director 02.01.21

    • Color Cosmetics | Hair Care | Skin Care
      The Future Has Arrived

      The Future Has Arrived

      When the pandemic shut down retail stores, technologies like AI and AR kept consumers connected to beauty brands. There’s no going back, say experts.
      Christine Esposito, Managing Editor 02.01.21

    • Color Cosmetics | Hair Care | Personal Cleansers | Skin Care
      Stepping into the Spotlight for 2021

      Stepping into the Spotlight for 2021

      A look at the leading indie brands in household and personal care for the new year.
      Melissa Meisel, Associate Editor 01.06.21


    • Color Cosmetics | Hair Care | Personal Cleansers | Skin Care | Sun Care
      The Independent Beauty Association Supports Sensible Reform

      The Independent Beauty Association Supports Sensible Reform

      What will the 117th Congress have in store for the cosmetics industry?
      Ken Marenus, Independent Beauty Association 01.06.21

    • Functional Ingredients | Laundry Care | Polymers | Surfactants
      A Clean Commitment

      A Clean Commitment

      In a pandemic, clean matters more than ever; which explains the gains in fabric care sales. A list of new ingredients follows the article.
      Tom Branna, Editorial Director 01.06.21

    • Disinfectants | Functional Ingredients | Household Cleaning | Laundry Care
      Deliver & Delight

      Deliver & Delight

      The fragrances used in home cleaning products must communicate clean, but increasingly health and wellness, too.
      Christine Esposito, Managing Editor 01.06.21


    • Color Cosmetics | Fine Fragrance | Hair Care | Personal Cleansers | Skin Care
      A Rebound for Beauty

      A Rebound for Beauty

      After a difficult year, the global cosmetics market is on the mend and will even exceed 2019 levels, according to predictions from McKinsey & Co.
      Tom Branna, Editorial Director 01.06.21

    • Hair Care | Skin Care
      Beauty Brands Must Prepare for a

      Beauty Brands Must Prepare for a 'Decade of the Home'

      The crisis will define consumption for the next decade, and it will force change for brands and companies more accustomed to catering to on-the-go consumers.
      Kim De Maeseneer, Accenture 01.06.21

    • Actives | Functional Ingredients | I&I Marketplace | Surfactants
      Front  & Center

      Front & Center

      The COVID-19 pandemic has moved commercial cleaning into the spotlight.
      Christine Esposito, Managing Editor 12.02.20


    • Functional Ingredients | Hair Care
      Clean-Label Shampoos with Xanthan Gum

      Clean-Label Shampoos with Xanthan Gum

      Thanks to its distinctive structure, xanthan gum provides a host of benefits when used as a thickener.
      Amirah Bajawi, Cameron Whitney and Dr. Teresa Berninger, Jungbunzlauer 12.02.20

    • Functional Ingredients | Hair Care | Polymers | Surfactants
      Just Hit Refresh

      Just Hit Refresh

      This year has been all about clean including advanced shampoo, conditioner and treatments for the scalp. A new ingredient list follows the article.
      Melissa Meisel , Associate Editor 12.02.20

    • Household Cleaning | Laundry Care | Personal Cleansers | Skin Care
      The Invention Legacy of COVID-19 & Implications for Home & Personal Care

      The Invention Legacy of COVID-19 & Implications for Home & Personal Care

      Recent inventions may reverse the course of COVID-19 and provide opportunities that could change the household and personal care industry.
      Robert and Margaret Lochhead, Lochhead Consulting LLC 12.02.20


    • Actives | OTC/Medicated | Skin Care
      Skin Care Actives  During  Inactivity

      Skin Care Actives During Inactivity

      When there’s nowhere to go, the focus is on the face.
      Tom Branna, Editorial Director 12.02.20

    • Fine Fragrance | Functional Ingredients
      This Stinks!

      This Stinks!

      The pandemic has been a plague on the fine fragrance industry; but the beauty industry is resilient and there are signs of a rebound.
      Tom Branna, Editorial Director 11.05.20

    • Actives | AP/Deo | Functional Ingredients | Personal Cleansers | Surfactants
      Me Time: The Market for Women

      Me Time: The Market for Women's Wellness

      While there is probably some slacking off due to social distancing, personal hygiene never goes out of style.
      Happi Staff 11.05.20

    Trending
    • When The FTC Comes Calling...
    • MAC Appoints SVP, Global Marketing
    • Are Chemists The Rock Stars Of Beauty?
    • Formulating Liquid Laundry Detergents
    • Eucerin Launches Sun Protection Formula
    Breaking News
    • What You're Reading on Happi.com
    • Cosmetic Chemical Sales To Post CAGR 5.8% To 2025
    • ACI Urges Senate to Approve Regan as EPA Administrator
    • Estée Lauder Signs Actress Ana de Armas
    • GUM Recalls Oral Spray
    View Breaking News >
    CURRENT ISSUE

    February 2021

    • Help for Indies
    • Trade Association Directory 2021
    • The Future Has Arrived
    • Shape It Up
    • View More >

    Cookies help us to provide you with an excellent service. By using our website, you declare yourself in agreement with our use of cookies.
    You can obtain detailed information about the use of cookies on our website by clicking on "More information”.

    • About Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms And Conditions
    • Contact Us

    follow us

    Subscribe
    Nutraceuticals World

    Latest Breaking News From Nutraceuticals World

    Preliminary Study Links Markers of Impaired Bone Health to Vegan Diet
    Refined Grains Linked to Heart Attack Risk, Early Death
    Kappa Bioscience Extends Research Partnership For COVID-19 Research
    Coatings World

    Latest Breaking News From Coatings World

    Nippon Paint Marine Wins Korea Export Award
    Universal Display Corporation, PPG Expand Global Production of UniversalPHOLED Materials
    PPG Introduces Premium Iso-free Primer Surfacer, Catalyst
    Medical Product Outsourcing

    Latest Breaking News From Medical Product Outsourcing

    January AI Raises $8.8 Million in New Funding
    FDA Clears Ava Fertility Tracking Wearable Device
    First Patient in Europe Treated With Diamondback 360 Coronary Orbital Atherectomy System
    Contract Pharma

    Latest Breaking News From Contract Pharma

    Spark Therapeutics Appoints CTO
    Cryoport Launches ESG Program
    U.S. Govt. Purchases 100k Doses of Lilly's COVID-19 Antibody Cocktail
    Beauty Packaging

    Latest Breaking News From Beauty Packaging

    The Top Beauty Products of 2021, According to HelloGiggles
    Estée Lauder Taps Ana de Armas as Global Brand Ambassador
    Sephora Announces Significant Expansion
    Happi

    Latest Breaking News From Happi

    What You're Reading on Happi.com
    Cosmetic Chemical Sales To Post CAGR 5.8% To 2025
    ACI Urges Senate to Approve Regan as EPA Administrator
    Ink World

    Latest Breaking News From Ink World

    Etiflex Enters New Markets with Nilpeter FA-22 Installation
    Hydrocarbon Solvents Market to Surpass $8.1 Billion by 2030
    Marshall & Bruce Adds Koenig & Bauer Rapida 106 41-Inch Seven-Color Press
    Label & Narrow Web

    Latest Breaking News From Label & Narrow Web

    FTA converts Forum & INFOFLEX to virtual events
    Xeikon launches two new digital label printing presses
    UFlex adds capacity in packaging films
    Nonwovens Industry

    Latest Breaking News From Nonwovens Industry

    Texas Medical Technology Partners with My Protect Kit
    Mexico City Single-Use Plastics Ban Leads to Tampon Shortage
    Believe Diapers Launch in U.S.
    Orthopedic Design & Technology

    Latest Breaking News From Orthopedic Design & Technology

    Fusion Robotics Receives FDA Clearance for Spinal Navigation and Robotics System
    Kaia Health Unveils Next-Gen Complete MSK Care Solutions
    First Implantation of CTL Amedica's Minimally Invasive Flex Tower
    Printed Electronics Now

    Latest Breaking News From Printed Electronics Now

    Comercial Kywi Improves Customer Service, Front-Store Operations with Zebra Mobile Solution
    Global Printed Circuit Board Market Projected to Reach $69.32 Billion by 2027
    Global Smart Glass Market to Register 6.8% CAGR Between 2021-28: Grand View Research

    Copyright © 2021 Rodman Media. All rights reserved. Use of this constitutes acceptance of our privacy policy The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Rodman Media.

    AD BLOCKER DETECTED

    Our website is made possible by displaying online advertisements to our visitors.
    Please consider supporting us by disabling your ad blocker.


    FREE SUBSCRIPTION Already a subscriber? Login