"Unlocking the Power of Cannabis Testing: Ensuring Safety and Quality in the Industry" Christopher Altomare, the CEO of Nova Analytic Labs, discusses the importance of testing in the cannabis industry. He highlights the risks associated with untested cannabis, such as exposure to pesticides and unknown health impacts. Chris also shares insights with Dan Humiston into Nova Analytic Labs' advancements in terpene testing and their plans for expansion into new markets, starting with New York. Produced by PodConx MJBulls - https://podconx.com/podcasts/raising-cannabis-capital Dan Humiston - https://podconx.com/guests/dan-humiston NOVA Analytic Labs - https://nova-analyticlabs.com/ Christopher Altomare - https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-altomare-33030654/ Recorded on Squadcast - https://squadcast.fm/
"Unlocking the Power of Cannabis Testing: Ensuring Safety and Quality in the Industry"
Christopher Altomare, the CEO of Nova Analytic Labs, discusses the importance of testing in the cannabis industry. He highlights the risks associated with untested cannabis, such as exposure to pesticides and unknown health impacts. Chris also shares insights with Dan Humiston into Nova Analytic Labs' advancements in terpene testing and their plans for expansion into new markets, starting with New York.
MJBulls - https://podconx.com/podcasts/raising-cannabis-capital
Dan Humiston - https://podconx.com/guests/dan-humiston
NOVA Analytic Labs - https://nova-analyticlabs.com/
Christopher Altomare - https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-altomare-33030654/
Recorded on Squadcast - https://squadcast.fm/
[00:00:00] Today I MJ Bulls Raising Cannabis Capital Podcast. We are joined by Chris Al, the c e o of Nova Analytic Labs. Christopher, welcome to the show.
Hi there. Great to be here. Thanks for having me.
Well, I appreciate you doing this. I am a big fan of, of testing. I've said this many times. I think that that's the road to moving from the illicit market to the legal market.
It runs right through your shop. Without testing, we're not gonna get there. And Nova Analytic Lab is, is located in Maine and is one of the. Largest facilities in Maine , I think you're the first fully certified for , pesticide testing in the state. , and that's kinda where I wanted to start.
I don't think people appreciate the risk that untested cannabis poses today versus where it was, 70 eighties, nineties. There's a lot more lethal [00:01:00] pesticides and things that people aren't aware of. , maybe we'll jump right in there, sort of a set the stage.
What type of house risks do people expose themselves when they're smoking untested cannabis.
Yeah. Just to touch on your first point, I really do see share your sentiment. We, I, I believe we helped legitimize the industry. We had some safety and data around the cannabis that gives. Anyone looking to purchase some level of comfort knowing what they're putting into their body. There's a very big trend overall.
What do I put into my body? Is it safe? And you're right, the things that the potential risk factors here have increased with the, with the drive for higher yields, better crop, more revenue that draws people to want to apply pesticides and do things that they shouldn't. The fact is, For the most part, we don't know what these chemicals will do when someone lights up a joint lights a dab. [00:02:00] Because a lot of the data we have on pesticides is, is through ingestion, maybe agricultural products, right? You don't smoke blueberries, so we don't know how that could potentially affect, there's two ways or or two areas to consider is what are the acute health impacts and the more chronic long-term.
You don't hear of many people going to the emergency room because they were exposed to something on cannabis. The one area that testing helps is. Mo that you do hear people go in the emergency room is if they overdose on an edible. That's where testing really helps to make sure you're dosing it proper properly.
But when you think about pesticides, residual solvents and molds for people that are immunocompromised, there's a lot of sick people taking medical cannabis. They could suffer some acute respiratory issues. Due to the ingestion of those chemicals and molds. But we don't know what's going to happen if someone is prolonged exposed to a certain type of pesticide that doesn't have an acute health impact.
But maybe five to 10 years do we see cancers? Do we see other sorts of [00:03:00] things pop up? look at, look at cigarettes, smoke, and what we learned.
and you talk about Roundup. I mean, you hear, you hear, hear all sorts of data coming out about the ramifications of years and years of use of Roundup and, and you say, geez, I seems like it'd be worse if I smoked it. Like at least, at least if my, it went through my digestive system, there's a little bit of protection, but smoking it goes right, right in.
There's an example that happened in California a little while back, and there's a very popular pesticide that's illegal now, I believe, but it's called Eagle 20. And when you, when you spray that on a plant and then light it, the effect of the heat pyrolysis occurs. The chemical breaks down into cyanide gas.
You can actually get cyanide poisoning from Eagle 20 it's called micro butinal. So yeah, there's a lot of, there's a lot of stuff we don't know.
And that's the kind of stuff that you can avoid , if you buy product from a legal dispensary. [00:04:00] That's the product has been tested. Let's jump ahead and talk about , some of the advances that you guys have come up with. I read about your new proprietary terpene testing technology.
What, what is that and why is that so important?
, so we're a business founded by three scientists and we have quality as. The most important aspect of what we do we work with our operators as their partner. We're not fee for service. So one of the things that we're always looking for is beyond compliance testing. What type of test can we offer our operators to better showcase their product and help their business?
So one of the things we did, because potency is not the be on the end, all right? There's more to. The high and the effect of cannabis beyond potency. So we said, let's look at more terpenes. So we expanded our panel to 58 terpenes. And this allows operators to better understand their product, deliver more predictable outcomes and experiences to people that follow more of the chemo type [00:05:00] of a strain, rather than just looking for gorilla glue number, whatever, because we know that that can vary.
But if you look at the actual. Potency in conjunction with terpenes and flavonoids. You get that full chemical profile, you can get a more consistent effect , from the product. We also you mentioned that we were the first to test pesticides actually in Maine when they rolled out testing in the state in 2020.
They didn't have heavy metals, residual solvents or pesticides. Actually, some of the most important safety tests, they phased in. And it wasn't until November, December of 2022 that they finally started requiring pesticide tests. We knew that this was a major health concern and we offered it from day one, the very beginning.
And those operators that were really concerned with showing their products are safe and, and, and, and to, to their consumers and patients. They tested with us from the beginning.
Big. I'm sure that made a big difference. You bring something to mind when, when I'm listening to you talking about , , the growers that are [00:06:00] out there right now, , sometimes it's gotta be a little bit tricky because the, they may, have some products that.
, aren't at the level that they think they are when they get to you and then you, it puts you in an awkward spot. But it's, but you know, now that you're offering the terpene testing and some other ones, , you add that additional value , and it's not such a hard pill to swallow when you say, Hey, this batch is not good.
Yeah, and that's where our, I think why we've done so well is we have, we, we have a really strong focus on customer service, and I mentioned we're not a fee for service. So when someone fails, we go over that data with them. We offer more tests, r and d type of tests to help dive into the problem. What's wrong with it?
We'll, if you fail for micro, we'll go into your facility and swab different areas and be able to tell you where it's coming from. We'll do speciation tests to tell you it's this type of mold and this is how to best handle it. So we really take the step to go above and beyond because when we can help our operators pass [00:07:00] correctly and build, a, a, a solid foundation, that's good for both sides
Yeah, , it's gotta be a partnership. But they also has to understand in order for you to be. Respected and people to appreciate that, that the information that you're providing is accurate. You have to be able to draw the line. Well, let's talk about expansion. , Maine is a great market, but there are a lot of other markets that could use your type of expertise.
Are there any plans to expand?
Yeah, so we're actually in the middle of an expansion effort. It's pretty exciting. We are going to be expanding into New York. New York market is one of those hot markets right now. They're ready to take off. There's a lot of Multi-state operators and larger medical dispensaries that'll be moving into recreational.
And we're doing a very small equity raise now. It's short and quick. We'll probably be done in the next week or two actually. There's still a little room left in that, We already have a license. We have a location. We're about done, our build [00:08:00] out and rolling instruments in. So it'll be, it'll be a quick launch.
We've done this before and we're joining with a partnership that has another lab in another state. So we're really combining our efforts and our goal here in three to five years is the have a large lab network that is really cohesive, built on quality, and has a scientific foundation to it.
Man, that's a great idea. , you can see where there could be a benefit if it was this. Now would you say that New York would have different type of requirements than Maine, or, or your requirements already so high that you fit right into New York's requirements?
The states are all kind of harmonizing to a certain extent. New York is definitely on the level of Maine. They have similar requirements, so we'll be able to take a lot of what we already have. . We've already validated some methodologies, we'll be able to drop them in to New York.
Fairly easy.
That's awesome. So you already have the location, you already have the license. , you're doing the build out right now , and in, in a couple weeks , there won't even be an opportunity for [00:09:00] investors. So, so that's, that's really exciting. That's really exciting. So, Not to get too far ahead, but if you, maybe 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 years out, , you see this, this happening in other states.
Is that the plan?
Yeah. The idea here is we get this lab up and running and then we're gonna launch two to three more. We're already looking at some other states and opportunities with the group,
I love it. I love it.
it's exciting time right now.
Oh, for sure. And like I said, you're the foundation. We need this type of validation in our products to move us outside of the, the, the li illicit market back into the legal market. So this is great. I'll have all of Chris's information , in the show notes and in including links to.
Their website. So, if you're an investor that might wanna just jump in on this is only, it's gonna be closing up pretty quickly, so you'd have to move quick on this one. I'm sure somebody from Chris's team would be happy to talk to you. And also if you're in New York and you need somebody to do your testing there, it will be available soon.
So [00:10:00] Chris, I appreciate you doing this with us today. I, this was a great interview and I, I, like I said, what you're doing is so important, so thanks for doing it.
Thank you so much for having me, Dan.