For the 10th time in three months, a Colorado marijuana company is voluntarily recalling pot products because they contain potentially dangerous pesticides — chemicals that “constitute a threat to the public safety” when applied to cannabis, Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper wrote in an executive order in mid-November.
Denver-based EdiPure is recalling 7,770 packages of pot-infused edibles because they were made with contaminated marijuana the company purchased from independent cultivators, the Denver Department of Environmental Health said Tuesday in a news release. This is EdiPure’s second pesticide-related recall in five weeks; In late-October, EdiPure announced the recall of 20,000 packages of edibles.
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EdiPure, which has now recalled more tainted pot-infused products than any other cannabis business in the state, has also been embroiled in a lawsuit in Denver District Court over brand ownership; The case involves two partners — Green Cross and EPMM Colorado — claiming ownership of EdiPure, one of Colorado’s most successful edibles companies.
EPMM spokesperson Kyle Forti directed blame for the recalls at the cultivators that first sold the company the tainted marijuana, including TruCannabis, which was the subject of its own recall in October and has been mentioned in connection with other companies’ recalls.
“The cultivators weren’t being upfront with us,” said Forti, noting that some growers didn’t disclose all of the pesticides used to grow the plant material that was eventually purchased by EdiPure. “We’re frustrated right along with the public, and I’m confident that with what we’ve been able to put into place now with our equipment, our testing and everything else, this isn’t going to be an issue again.”
Since the first EdiPure recall, EPMM has purchased a suite of testing equipment, including a costly mass spectrometer machine, to handle such testing in-house, Forti said.
In November, Green Cross CEO Mark Smith told The Post that fewer than 5 percent of EdiPure’s initially recalled product was returned by retailers. No edibles were returned by customers, Smith said, primarily because that recall (and the recall announced Tuesday) is dealing with product that has been on store shelves for months.
Smith had no comment on Tuesday’s recalls.
EdiPure’s latest recall — involving specific batch numbers outlined in a press release from the city — affects 12 EdiPure-branded products and five from its elite Organix line, which the company says are gluten-free, non-GMO and vegan.
The DEH release said consumers with questions about this recall should contact EdiPure at 720-639-7220. For questions about pesticide residues in cannabis products, the city’s Public Health Inspections division can be reached at 720-913-1311 or via email.