In 2021, New Brunswick’s provincial research organization found that many samples of illicit cannabis edibles were greatly underdosed and contained contaminants that would not be allowed in the legal cannabis market.

As part of a recent research study, the RPC sent multiple packages of six types of illicit edibles to a lab for potency, microbial, and contaminant testing. At the same time, the agency tested samples of five types of legal edibles from Cannabis NB, the provincial retailer in New Brunswick.

When they reviewed the test results, the researchers found significant differences between the regulated and illicit products they reviewed. First, the legal products were free of contaminants such as microbials and pesticides while the illicit products weren’t. In a regulated production shop like Fritz’s, all of our ingredients and inputs are tested for microbials and heavy metals before we ever add them to a batch.  We also periodically test our finished gummies to ensure we’re not adding any contaminants in during production, something we’re not required to do, but that helps ensure every gummy we sent to market is of the highest quality.

Second, the researchers found that legal products were safer and more consistent. Every gummy we make is traced throughout our entire production process, from the time it is nothing more than raw ingredients until the time it lands at another licensed facility. And when it comes time to package the gummies, we’ve got a strict weight range that we adhere to, making sure that every gummy we ship to market is the right size.

The third area that researchers found major variation in was cannabinoid potency.

The Over/Under on Potency Claims

When it comes to edibles, the regulations allow for different tolerance limits based on what the product is dosed at.  An edible with 2mg to 5mg of THC must be within 80% -120% of the dose; an edible with more than 5mg must be within 85% -115% of the dose. Practically, this means that a 5mg edible could actually be dosed anywhere from 4mg to 6mg. A regulated 10mg edible could actually be dosed from 8.5mg up to 11.5mg.

In the research study, all of the illicit edible products tested would not meet this specification. Dosing accuracy among these packs ranged from 23% of expected cannabinoid potency to 38% at best!

Of the legal products, one (Legal 5) would not meet specifications. Legal 5’s potency tested at 67% of the reported amount, while the other legal products accuracy ranged from 86% to 105%.

Researchers also noted that Illicit edible packages were not compliant with cannabis regulations. They were lacking security features, were colorful, had illustrations of well-known cartoon characters and imitated popular brands of candy products. This is an example of how Health Canada’s unnecessarily restrictive regulations on packaging force consumers to the unregulated market to access fun packaging that puts kids at risk.

Fritz’s Co-Founders on Dosing

We’ve spent a lot of time over the past few years thinking about and experimenting with edible dosing. From our very first estimates of the THC in our products, to our recent calls for Health Canada to increase potency limits on edibles, we’ve spent the last few years constantly considering, eating, and sleeping (under the effects of) cannabis edibles. In fact, we’ve got a bird’s-eye-view and a unique perspective to share. Here are some of our thoughts.

Ari:  When we first started producing and selling edibles years before legalization, there were no testing facilities available to us. This, of course, presented a challenge when we were trying to figure out dosages for labelling products. This was back in the pre-distillate days – when almost all edibles were made with old school cannabis oil that came from infusing the flower right into the oil that was then used to make edibles. Quite frankly, no one had a clue what actual dosages were. 

So, we did our research. We went out and tried every legacy edible available (shoutout Hamm’s Hash!) and used those as a benchmark for labelling our dosages accordingly.

But we were way off, and so was everyone one else. We were so very wrong. 

We assumed the gummies we were making were 75mg of THC each, based on the effects as compared to other edibles with the same dosage listed. Our cereal bars we estimated to be at 125mg of THC.

And as soon as testing became available for edibles, we sent our stuff out to a lab in Vancouver and were SHOCKED by the results. The cereal bars we had been listing and labelling at 125mg each were actually….24mg. This created an issue, both in terms of marketing and selling our products and getting the information out there. We realized that if WE didn’t know what proper dosing was, the average consumer of our products wouldn’t know either. 

Surely people wouldn’t buy our edibles if we started labelling them at 20mg. Not with many other products out there claiming to be 5-25x that strength. But we also believe in transparency and education and honesty, so we knew we had to do SOMETHING.

Transparency is the Solution

Tabitha:  First, we reformulated our products with proper dosing. This meant understanding the dosing that was coming from the infused coconut oil we used, as well as beginning to use distillate, which we could get tested, and use to precisely dose our products. Second, we changed our packaging to provide more transparency into our dosing. 

Finally, we launched a social media campaign to tell our customers the truth about what we had found out, and what we were going to do about it. We told them that we had been as misinformed as they were, but now that we knew the truth, we were going to work to provide them with exact dosing and transparent information, even if that meant our products looked like they were lower dosed than other producers’ products. But we believed that with time, consumers would discover the truth about the quality of our products and the accuracy of our dosing by trying them and comparing them to other edibles. In our experience, the market usually regulates itself that way.

Regardless of knowing we were doing the right thing we weren’t sure how it would be received. In fact, we probably did lose some sales to other producers who claimed to have higher dosed products than us at comparable prices, but ultimately, the customers who continued to purchase from us were very grateful to know what they were getting, to have more information, and to be better able to choose the right products for them. 

Ari: To our surprise, we started selling even more cereal bars and gummies. People appreciated and responded to honesty in dosing and labelling. And sure, we still got plenty of people who came by our Green Market booth, picked up a product, and scoffed as they put it back down. “Bro – how come you charging $10 for a 40mg edible when this other table is selling 300mg edibles for the same price?”  

This problem still exists and runs rampant in the legacy market. Pick up any pack of 3000mg candy from an illicit dispensary and compare the effects with a pack of our 10mg Hash Rosin gummies, and you’ll quickly see that inaccurate dosing in the legacy market is one of the biggest issues for many consumers. Many are using prefabricated packs of “Stoner Patch Kids” or “Weedeoes” with familiar logos for their products but are using unknown amounts of questionable inputs to infuse their edibles. It’s a crap shoot for consumers every time they buy unregulated edibles. They don’t know what they’re going to get. 

Tabitha: In Canada, licensed producers have to follow Health Canada’s Good Production Practices for cannabis. This means that every single input we use and every single batch of edibles we make gets tested to make sure they’re safe, free from contaminants, and accurately dosed.  We believe our customers should get what they pay for, and we’re just as committed as always to transparency and education.

At the end of the day, we’re cannabis consumers ourselves, and so everything we do is with the consumer in mind. We’ve always been committed to offering our customers accurately dosed, delicious, and consistent products, a legacy that has followed us to the regulated space.