Microbial Analysis and Standards
Bacterial analysis of CBD oil is important for ensuring the safety of the product, as well as later derivative products, for consumption. There is no set standard, so what is listed below is adopted from testing requirements in California, Colorado, Illinois, New York, and Massachusettes. The standards below are set such that if present in 1g, either above the limit if provided or present at all if not, the batch is contaminated and in need of either remediation and retesting, or disposal.
Failure if:
Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC)
Salmonella
Aspergillus fumigatus
A. flavus
A. niger
A. terreus
Total viable aerobic bacteria > 10^4 CFU/g
Total coliforms > 10^2 CFU/g
Bile-tolerant gram-negative bacteria > 10^2 CFU/g
Total yeast and mold > 10^3 CFU/g
Microbial Techniques and Methods
It is important to follow the methods set out for standardized analyses of these microbes carefully. This will ensure consistent testing across various labs and ensure that false negatives do not happen. Methods for quantitative analyses are detailed here, USP 40 Chapter 61, and here, USP 40 Chapter 62.
As an overview, these methods use bacterial removal from 1g of the sample, followed by various dilutions and platings, wherein which exact, standardized methods must be chosen. When testing specifically for the presence/absence of STEC, Salmonella and pathogenic Aspergillus species, the use of qPCR can decrease testing time significantly and provide highly accurate reports. This paper here is publically available and provides excellent methodologies to base testing standards for the aforementioned microbes on, as well as total yeast and mold standards.