A California cannabis company has voluntarily recalled one of its products because it contains a pesticide that was banned in 2020.
Grizzly Peak Farms, an indoor farm with locations in Oakland and San Diego, alerted state regulators on December 7 that a batch of its flower product with the strain name "Zoap" contains the pesticide chlorfenapyr. The batch was manufactured and packaged on September 15.
The products associated with this particular strain package were made available to retail consumers after September 20, California's Department of Cannabis Control (DCC) spokesperson David Hafner told Newsweek.
"This remains an ongoing investigation," Hafner said. "The department does not comment on ongoing investigations."
It is unclear how much pesticide was discovered and how many consumers may have been affected.
In October 2019, the Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR)—a department within the California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA)—announced that virtually all use of the pesticide chlorpyrifos in California would cease following an agreement with manufacturers to withdraw their products. The pesticide has been traditionally used for termite control and crop protection.
A CalEPA spokesperson deferred comment to the DCC.
The ban went into effect in February 2020, forbidding statewide marijuana growers from possessing or using chlorpyrifos products after December 31, 2020.
A scientific review panel on toxic air contaminants initially referred its findings on chlorpyrifos to the DPR in August 2018, saying that "exposure is associated with developmental neurotoxicological effects that have been documented in human epidemiology studies and in laboratory animal studies." It was also associated with serious health effects in children.
Newsweek reached out to Grizzly Peak Farms and the DPR via email for comment.
DCC, which confirmed the presence of chlorfenapyr, began sending out notices on December 7 to affected retailers and distributors in possession of the contaminated product.
"All retail sales and distribution of the adulterated batch must cease immediately," the notice warned, according to an email obtained by MJBizDaily. "It is unlawful to distribute, sell, hold or offer for sale an adulterated cannabis good."
The DCC also reportedly directed affected companies to "collect, segregate, and quarantine" all units of the flower batch until the recall is finalized and the product can be transferred to the responsible licensee or destroyed.
A DCC spokesperson told the publication that Grizzly Peak's call for the recall "is the right thing to do and is in line with the need to protect our state's consumers."
The Grizzly Peak website describes the farm as pesticide-free and includes a promise to consumers that the product will never contain pesticides.
"Our recipe for pest-control is based around cultural practices and verifiably safe products," the website says. "We use OMRI [Organic Materials Review Institute] certified solutions and focus primarily on biological forms of pest control. Every batch of our flower is lab tested to ensure the customer gets the safest flower possible."
In 2020, the city of San Diego sued Grizzly Peak Farms for almost $10,000 in penalties and interest for allegedly failing to pay tax on cannabis products the company delivered to dispensaries in the city from its Oakland location between January 2018 and June 2019.
Update 12/13/23, 8:03 a.m. ET: This article was updated with comment from California's Department of Cannabis Control and a response from CalEPA.
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