New York Scraps Testing Limits for Bacteria, Mold, and Yeast

New York’s Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) on Tuesday scrapped its testing limits for bacteria, mold, and yeast for cannabis products after cultivators expressed concern that the majority of their products wouldn’t be able to pass under the state’s strict rules.

According to an email from OCM dated November 1, the agency has removed “the pass/fail limits associated with the Total Viable Aerobic Bacteria County and Total Yeast and Mold Count for unextracted cannabis products,” which includes pre-rolls and flower.

“Cannabis laboratories will still need to run these tests as part of the state mandated testing panel, but at this time, there will not be a defined limit for unextracted cannabis products in the adult-use program.” — OCM in an email

The agency said it is still “the responsibility of the licensee to consider these results and any impact on the stability and expiration dating of the product, as well as any risks to the health of the consumer.”

OCM added that it will continue to monitor lab test results and licensees “may be required to conduct further testing where results indicate concerns with product quality or safety.”

The New York agency still imposes limits on pesticides used in cannabis cultivation and said it is planning “additional lab testing guidance soon to help streamline the lab testing process for conditional licensees including a temporary testing protocol designed to enable licensees to test multiple lots of the same form of product simultaneously.”