FDA Greenlights Mobile Cannabis Analyzer To Boost Accuracy And Safety

Jan 10, 2024

FDA Chooses LightLab 3 Cannabis Analyzer by Orange Photonics

The need for a more accurate mobile cannabis analyzer has never been greater: Confusion abounds concerning the compliance intricacies of hemp-derived cannabinoids and the products that are infused with them. Unrealistic THC level goals lead to lab shopping, or shopping around for the labs that can give the highest readings.

One device has proven its worth for a wide range of uses since being launched in November 2022, but its biggest achievement yet is a recent device selection from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

New London, New Hampshire-based Orange Photonics, a company that’s mastered high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) technology, announced on Aug. 4 that the FDA selected the LightLab 3 High Sensitivity (HS) Cannabis Analyzer to be used for compliance, after multiple international and state regulatory agencies successfully used the device to analyze cannabis samples.

Until now, typically only labs have the capabilities needed to adequately analyze cannabis. LightLab 3 HS is an application-specific portable HPLC analyzer capable of swiftly analyzing 19 cannabinoids down to 1.7 parts per million, reported as percent, mg per sample, and mg per package. It tests nearly any cannabis-containing product—at the point of need, and can be used on-site by cultivators, manufacturers, regulators, and law enforcement agencies to make fast, data-driven decisions informed by real-time cannabinoid analysis.

“LightLab 3 Cannabis Analyzer sets itself apart from standard laboratory-based instruments as the only portable, easy-to-use high-performance liquid chromatograph (HPLC) commercial available,” Orange Photonics President Stephanie McArdle tells Forbes in an email. “We are democratizing science by delivering a level of analysis that was formerly, exclusively laboratory-based, and making that analysis so easy that non-technical users are able to confidently conduct tests when and where data are needed.”

The FDA addressed numerous consumer concerns related to delta-8 THC products and other cannabinoids. The FDA's decision to deploy LightLab 3 HS Cannabis Analyzer is one answer to those concerns: Over the past six years, the FDA has issued repeated consumer safety notices and letters to companies manufacturing or marketing hemp-derived cannabinoid products that do not meet FDA criteria. In addition, the FDA will potentially play a key role intercepting international and intrastate illicit shipments.

In May 2022, the FDA announced five health concerns about delta-8 THC, notably that it’s psychoactive. Then last July, both the FDA and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued warning letters to six companies for illegally selling copycat food products containing delta-8 THC.

Delta-8 THC appears naturally but only in minuscule amounts, and it requires the process of converting CBD to delta-8 THC and other cannabinoids in order to get psychoactive effects.

This is what makes delta-8 THC fundamentally different from delta-9 THC despite having molecular similarities. Much of the concern surrounding delta-8 THC is not the compound itself—rather the additional impurities that are often found.

Operators in the cannabis industry need to find more ways to be efficient and develop stronger Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). "In an industry where every aspect of production is scrutinized, LightLab 3 HS has proven to be a vital tool for businesses seeking accuracy, efficiency, and consistency in their operations," Chief Technology Officer of Orange Photonics Dylan Wilks said in the announcement.

Delta-8 THC samples are difficult to analyze, and frequently contains more delta-9 THC than is wanted, which is regulated differently. Accuracy problems are evident in the range of differences seen in analyses from different labs.

The LightLab 3 High Sensitivity Analyzer by Orange Photonics has been driving cannabis industry and ... [+] infrastructure growth by providing the robust analytical capabilities of high-performance liquid chromatography, at the point of need.

The device has also been used for other forensic applications. The instrument is available in three configurations: the standard LightLab 3 Cannabis Analyzer, the LightLab 3 High Sensitivity version and the LightLab 3 Law Enforcement version.

Mobile cannabis testing with LightLab 3 HS cuts the slack for forensic laboratories, allowing operators to immediately test cannabis plants and products at locations on the spot, in other words, where the products are being made and sold. This results in fewer samples being sent to forensic labs, and clears up confusion over compliant products.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency (CBP) also successfully used the LightLab 3 in 2022 after a thorough multiphase assessment by the CBP's Laboratories and Scientific Services.

Consumers deserve to have peace of mind regarding the safety, labeling, and marketing standards of products on retail shelves.