Let’s face it, in terms of what we would all monkey around with in terms of our cannabis usage — your quality testing laboratory partners isn’t one of them.
But in a crowded market, who are the real industry leaders in the cannabis testing market? In terms of top standards and certainly the organization’s media coverage, Infinite Chemical Analysis Labs (or InfiniteCAL) in San Diego, California is clearly top tier and helping to set the standard.
Covered by ABC News and CBS News repeatedly, InfiniteCAL and the lab’s CEO Josh Swider have clearly become top thought leaders in educating how this now “essential” industry badly needs top quality testing and standards.
As part of an onslaught of TV coverage, InfiniteCAL, which has roughly 45 employees, 30 of those either chemists or biologists, has been covered by respected news outlet ABC News for its testing of cannabis for retailers and also protecting consumers by testing vapes during the recent vaping health scare late last year:
In his October 19, 2019, ABC News interview, Swider said that their analysis showed that what’s making people sick is when the product is diluted, most recently with Vitamin E or Vitamin E acetate.
InfiniteCAL was also featured by ABC News last December, after the industry-leading cannabis lab teamed up with lead cannabis educator at Torrey Holistics to test unreliable cannabidiol (CBD) products, after working to collect about a dozen different products from various locations around San Diego and also online.
InfiniteCAL’s stunning, and newsworthy test results raised eyebrows, not just among journalists: of all of the samples gathered and tested, NONE of the samples tested had ANY CBD in them.
Just two short months ago before the recent California state lockdown due to COVID-19, ABC News also picked up news out of InfiniteCAL on March 5, 2020, that showed almost 80% of the cannabis vape cartridges were tested and deemed “unfit for consumption.”
As part of that breaking news story, manufacturing company Platinum Vape teamed up with nearby licensed cannabis dispensary Mankind to buy back cartridges that ranged from home-made concentrates to counterfeits of popular legal brands.
In exchange, customers got discounted Platinum Vape cartridges that are properly tested and regulated — largely by InfiniteCAL, and thank goodness.
InfiniteCAL was also covered in respected news outlet CBS News, as a pioneer testing lab that’s always busy with chemists and biologists working 17 hours at a time, with the slew of products that come in every day. That report also mentioned how Infinite Chemical Analysis Labs rolls with the punches as they test the potency of new cannabis products that are produced on the daily – especially because cannabis remains federally illegal and there is no FDA to mandate testing.
Continuing in InfiniteCAL’s swagger as an industry leader, the testing lab also pioneered a case study as covered in the ABC coverage previously mentioned, in which the lab found that 80% of cartridges collected during a buyback program tested as unfit for consumption.
As covered by Cannabis Business Times and Analytical Cannabis, this program promoted the health and safe consumption of cannabis products, getting illicit products off of the market and replacing them with safe, tested products.
InfiniteCAL also released just this year in January 2020, a case study covered by Terpenes and Testing that showed that showed that out of 12 samples of CBD product purchased at farmer’s markets, grocery stores and online, none of the samples tested as accurate for CBD label claims.
In May, 2019, the lab also partnered with Torrey Holistics on a case study report that also showed misleading labeling claims for CBD products, providing consumers with much-needed oversight and education.
With the entire “essential” cannabis industry waiting for the US federal government and FDA to get on board, thank goodness there are industry leaders such as InfiniteCAL that are leading the way, and blazing a trail of industry-leading education and also keeping consumers safe and protected.
