The Poll Results Are In! Answers to Viewer Questions for Our Virtual Symposium

On December 7th, 2023, Cannabis Science and Technology hosted the virtual symposium, “Microbial Testing in Cannabis: Basics, Guidance, and Applications.” Presented by AOAC Cannabis Analytical Science Program (CASP) Microbial Contaminants Working Group members and Chair, this webcast explained the importance and applications of microbial testing in cannabis.

Panelists included Susan Audino, Chemist, Independent Consultant at S. Audino & Associates, LLC and AOAC INTERNATIONAL; Julia Bramante, Cannabis and Natural Medicine Sciences Program Manager, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment; Jini Glaros, Chief Science Officer at Modern Canna; and Nicole Westfall, Senior QA Microbiologist, Certified Quality Auditor (CQA), Signature Science, LLC.

The LinkedIn poll asked, “What would you like to hear from our speakers in the upcoming ‘Microbial Testing in Cannabis: Basics, Guidance, and Applications’ symposium?” and offered the following options:

• Biggest Pet Peeve
• Favorite Fun Fact
• Cautionary Tale
• Other (Please Comment)

The result was a tie between Favorite Fun Fact and Cautionary Tale. Below is a transcript of some of the responses:

Moderator: Do you have any cautionary tales from your work that you can share?

Susan Audino: I don't mind and it also runs into the Fun Fact of the field. And that is magical turn back of time, magical time management. I've seen many laboratories wish to take the required 72-hour incubation time and reduce it to 24 hours and wonder why things aren't working or why people are upset. So I see that. You know, one of the biggest challenges in the cannabis industry is the acceptance that incubation time is incubation time. Doesn't matter what the matrix is.

Nicole Westfall: From the quality assurance, quality control, and proficiency tests, I think a lot of times laboratories do proficiency tests as maybe a scary situation. They want to try really hard to get the right result the perfect result and report. But it's really important to keep in mind that proficiency tests are supposed to be performed the same as your operational samples. So they should be performed in the same manner you should not be performing your proficiency tests differently than your operational samples for customers. And if you happen to fail or get a low score on a proficiency test, number one, at least that wasn't a client sample. And it's really supposed to be a learning experience. So you take the information, look at the record compared to other laboratories, and then also see how you can improve your methods. You know, there's, there's some things that you can do to improve your methods and make sure that your operational samples are valid and you're reporting correct in quality results to your customers.

The virtual symposium is available on demand! Register here or check out more upcoming and on-demand webcasts.