Hydrolife Magazine August/September 2017 [USA Edition]

heal grow
Microbiological Testing
101
A NEWBIE’S GUIDE to
Microbiological Testing
BY JODI MCDONALD
While there are a host of benefits that lab testing your
cannabis can provide, one of the most important is looking
for microbial contamination because it is not something
that can be detected easily, says Jodi McDonald.
Labs providing test services to the cannabis industry look at
two big-picture things: what is in the product (potency) and
what is not in the product (contamination). A single sample
sent to a lab for testing is divided up into the required number
of sub-samples and processed specifically for each test. Often,
the testing happens at the same time in different areas of
the lab. There is a wealth of information that comes from the
testing cycle of a single product and it becomes more valuable
as more batches of products are tested, allowing comparison
between different batches.
In this article, we will look at the importance of microbial
contamination testing in cannabis.
When a company prepares a drug product, natural health product,
or medical device, one of the first things it's must decide is
how the product will be delivered or administered to the patient.
Speaking microbiologically, there are two choices: it is either
sterile and is delivered directly to the patient—for example,
through injection—or it is an aseptic preparation and it will
be delivered to the patient through less direct means—for
example, through an oral administration. When we consider
cannabis, it falls into the second group.
As the name implies, microorganisms are microscopic and
thus not visible by the naked eye. The testing of this contamination
category is important for that very reason. The lab can
use the way the organisms like to grow in order to visualize
and count how many are present.
For products that are prepared aseptically, the goal is to
prepare it without adding extra microbial organisms. However,
it is not required to be free from bacteria, yeast, and mold (that
would mean it was sterile). There are allowable limits for the
44
grow. heal. learn. enjoy.
myhydrolife.com