Missing a food safety inspection deadline is the reason Surterra, one of Florida’s largest medical marijuana treatment centers, has been forced to stop producing new items.
The plant, which operates eight locations across in the state, failed to comply with the requirement, which requires that medical marijuana treatment centers complete third-party inspections in the first year to ensure “good manufacturing practices,” according to the Miami Herald, which reported on the potential missed deadline last week, when it stated that “about half of the 13 Florida businesses allowed to grow, process and sell medical marijuana could be suspended from processing cannabis because of a little-noticed deadline in state law requiring food safety inspections — even though edible forms cannot be sold in the state.”
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In letters sent July 6, the Department of Health said it would be enforcing the provision that requires businesses to complete certification within the first year of getting licensed. If they don’t comply, they must immediately halt production. In a statement, company spokeswoman Kim Hawkes said:
Surterra will comply with all of the regulations set forth by the Department of Health in order to ensure that Floridians continue to receive the safest, most naturally derived treatments to enable health and well-being, as recommended by a doctor. We are going above and beyond simply ensuring good manufacturing practices and are pursuing American’s For Safe Access’ [ASA] Patient Focused Certification Program, which is a standard that is superior to what is currently required by Florida statute.
According to the Tampa Bay Times, the inspection requirement went unnoticed or ignored by some businesses because they misconstrued it as part of the statute’s guidelines on edible medical marijuana. The Department of Health has still not cemented rules pertaining to edible forms.
