Quality control practices can help cannabis manufacturers evaluate product consistency, potency, contaminants, and other characteristics required by applicable standards or regulations. For regulated cannabis products, accurate testing and labeling can be important parts of product quality and regulatory compliance.
Quality practices can be relevant throughout manufacturing, from handling raw materials through production, testing, packaging, and recordkeeping. Requirements and procedures vary by product, jurisdiction, and license type.
Cannavision Institute offers cannabis education covering topics such as regulations, administration, business concepts, and industry practices. Understanding how quality practices intersect with regulatory compliance can provide useful context for students interested in the administrative side of the regulated cannabis industry.
Understanding Quality Assurance and Quality Control
Quality assurance and quality control are related concepts used within quality-management systems. Quality assurance generally emphasizes processes and systems, while quality control can involve evaluating products, samples, or results against established criteria.
In cannabis manufacturing, these practices may involve areas such as:
- Documenting standard operating procedures.
- Maintaining production and inventory records.
- Reviewing testing results and specifications.
- Monitoring labeling and packaging requirements.
- Documenting sanitation and equipment procedures.
- Maintaining records required by applicable regulations.
Specific quality requirements vary by jurisdiction. Businesses must identify and follow the regulations, testing requirements, and operating procedures applicable to their products and activities.
Understanding Cannabis Testing
Analytical testing can evaluate cannabis samples for characteristics such as cannabinoid concentration and potential contaminants according to applicable testing requirements and methods.
Depending on the jurisdiction, product, and testing requirements, laboratories may evaluate samples for:
- Microbial Contaminants: Testing may evaluate samples for microorganisms or other biological contaminants.
- Heavy Metals and Pesticides: Testing requirements may include evaluating products or materials for regulated contaminants and comparing results with applicable limits.
- Cannabinoid Concentration: Laboratories may use validated analytical methods to determine concentrations of cannabinoids.
- Residual Solvents: Where applicable, testing can evaluate whether residual solvents fall within required limits.
Understanding common testing categories can provide useful context for how laboratories and manufacturers evaluate cannabis products. Testing methods, limits, sampling procedures, and other requirements can differ among jurisdictions.
Quality Practices Throughout Manufacturing
Cannabis manufacturing can involve different processes and products, including extracts, concentrates, topicals, edible products, and other regulated goods. The procedures used to manufacture those products vary considerably.
Quality-control activities are not limited to laboratory testing. Depending on applicable requirements and an organization’s procedures, manufacturers may monitor materials, equipment condition, sanitation, production records, packaging, labeling, and other factors throughout the manufacturing process.
Documentation may include equipment records, sanitation logs, testing records, inventory information, and chain-of-custody records. When a potential issue is identified, accurate documentation can help an organization determine which products or processes may require additional review.
Building Knowledge of Quality and Compliance
Quality control and regulatory compliance often intersect. Testing results, product specifications, inventory records, standard operating procedures, labeling requirements, and other documentation may all play a role in demonstrating compliance with applicable requirements.
Relevant areas of study may include:
- Standard operating procedures and documentation.
- Regulatory recordkeeping.
- Inventory and tracking concepts.
- Quality-management principles.
- Packaging and labeling requirements.
- Awareness of industry standards, including work developed by ASTM Committee D37 on Cannabis.
Industry standards can provide useful frameworks and technical guidance, but they do not replace applicable state or local requirements.
For students interested in this side of the cannabis industry, education about compliance and administration can provide an opportunity to develop a broader understanding of how regulations affect business operations.
Why Quality Knowledge Matters in a Regulated Industry
Quality-control practices are one part of the broader systems used to evaluate cannabis products and document manufacturing processes. They also demonstrate why compliance involves more than simply knowing individual regulations.
Organizations may need procedures for documenting activities, maintaining records, reviewing test information, tracking products, and responding when results or processes do not meet applicable requirements.
Learning about testing, documentation, quality-management concepts, and regulatory requirements can therefore provide useful background for understanding how quality and compliance interact within the cannabis industry.
Explore Cannabis Compliance Education
Quality control and regulatory compliance often intersect through documentation, procedures, recordkeeping, testing requirements, and other regulated business practices.
Cannavision Institute’s Cannabis Compliance and Administration Diploma provides online education related to cannabis regulations, compliance, administration, and industry practices. The program offers students an opportunity to build cannabis-specific knowledge without implying hands-on laboratory or extraction training.
Explore the Cannabis Compliance and Administration Diploma to learn more about the curriculum and determine whether the program aligns with your educational goals.