It was only a matter of time until the pot brownie industry parroted the timeless line of “we’ve been doing this for x number of years and have never made anyone sick.” The Denver Post  home of a pot reviewer, reports that Denver health folks have some real concerns about the storage of THC-infused /extracted oil which is used as an ingredient in many edibles.

City officials said that since January 2013, inspectors have made at least 340 visits to edibles manufacturers and the medical dispensaries and recreational pot shops that sell their products.

Scott Henderson, food program supervisor for the Denver Department of Environmental Health, said the city began applying existing food regulations to edibles because of rising safety concerns. Plant-infused oils can support the growth of dangerous bacteria (or spore germination, outgrowth, multiplication and botulinum toxin formation -ben) that can cause illness if eaten, Henderson said.

The city’s food safety regulations classify plant-infused oils as “potentially hazardous foods,” meaning they must be stored refrigerated to prevent bacterial growth unless otherwise approved. The oils are used as the active ingredient in many infused foods.

At Home Baked, operating under a license held by Advanced Medical Alternatives, was instructed to stop selling and destroy its marijuana-infused baking mixes and oil pouches. The company used a cold-water hash extraction in oil stored in reduced oxygen packaging at room temperature, which is conducive to spore germination and toxin formation, a report says.

Co-owner James Ashkar said he understands the city’s concerns. But he said the botulism threat is virtually nonexistent, no one has ever gotten sick from his products and the city is overstepping its bounds in a “witch hunt on edibles.”

Marisa Bunning, associate professor and extension specialist in food science and human nutrition at Colorado State University, said time and temperature abuses have long been shown to make food unsafe.

“The system we have in place — with health departments maintaining the standards that have been set and citing establishments that don’t follow those — that is a very good system that prevents illness,” Bunning said. “This is a new industry, so it’s probably going to take some time to learn the safe handling practices that are necessary.”

Holding an herbs in oil mixture at room temperature allows for cell formation and growth. Garlic-in-oil mixtures, have been the source of multiple illnesses. U.S. Food and Drug Administration-mandated microbial inhibitors or acidifying agents for commercially available (and non-pot-containing) infused oils.

Pot brownies might be a nice treat for Denverites, botulism is not.

A lot of fresh produce safety verification was established in the absence of regulations. After dealing with fallout following outbreaks, food service and retail buyers started setting and enforcing standards for their suppliers. Between self-audits or declarations, regulatory inspections, buyer visits and third-party audits there’s a lot of data gathered on many factors – some risky, some not so much. 

Putting it all together is an exercise in exploring jurisdiction, laws, industry standards and vendor requirements. It’s a confusing patchwork, even for those in the supply chain. One of the standards, increasingly pointed to as a cost-effective option for small and medium-sized farmers, is found in the USDA GAPs audit.

In an attempt to pull back the curtain on the auditing process, Lancaster Online details a mock USDA GAPs audit at a Pennsylvania farm.

Most people, farmers included, do not like being held up to scrutiny. But the Woerner family in Adams County offered their operation up to just that last week. They allowed Brenda Sheaffer, a state Department of Agriculture inspector, to conduct a public mock audit at their packing house. The walk-through, organized by Penn State Extension, was designed to help growers see an operation through an inspector’s eyes.

No birds were nesting in the rafters, and the roof did not have any glass skylights that could break and fall into the food when packing time comes around. So far, so good.

“Wood cannot be sanitized,” she said. “You can clean it, but you can’t sanitize it.” Instead, the surfaces should be metal or plastic, or they could be coated with food-grade paint, she said. Wood is a touchy subject because many farmers transport their fruit in wooden crates. Even though it is a common practice, those wooden crates can lead to a deduction on the audit, though the crates by themselves will not cause the farm to fail the inspection, Sheaffer said.