// Definition
Strategies to pass microbial testing without irradiating cannabis, which degrades terpenes and cannabinoids. Approaches include understanding that standard plating methods count beneficial plant microbiome organisms alongside pathogens, and advocating for molecular PCR-based testing that can distinguish harmful organisms.
// From the Episode
Isam Ben Musa from Canera described how his first mandate upon joining was to eliminate irradiation. He found that standard pharmaceutical plating methods were inappropriate for biological plant material because they count the plant's natural beneficial microbiome. He successfully convinced Health Canada auditors to accept molecular methods by referencing Health Canada's own JCAM study on PCR-based microbial analysis. This allowed Canera to pass testing without irradiation on 98% of their production.