COLUMBUS, Ohio —
As the demand for quality cannabis products has grown exponentially for both medical and adult use, so too has the need to ensure cannabis-infused edibles comply with regulations and are safe for consumers.
Responsible cannabis companies will rely on current Good Manufacturing Practices and will build programs to analyze hazards and risks to ingredient and product contamination and safety.
But with high industry turnover, training employees can be a challenge.
To address the pressing need for workforce training, Cannabis Hub and ImEPIK are partnering to offer 100% online self-paced courses for onboarding new employees who work in edibles production. The full remote Cannabis Edibles Safety courses are interactive learning experiences with three levels of competency training, so companies can choose the course appropriate for the existing skill level of employees.
“The cannabis industry is evolving fast so quality and safety will be one of the most important areas to standardize. The lack of quality training for employees combined with high turnover rates add to the risk and our partnership fills that gap,” said Kevin Greene, VP of Cannabis Hub and Cleveland School of Cannabis.
“Adherence to current GMPs, understanding hazards and verifying process, sanitation, allergen and supply chain controls of food ingredients are critical for ensuring safety and quality in cannabis edibles,” said Kathryn Birmingham, Chief Operating Officer, ImEPIK. “Cannabis Hub and ImEPIK are providing a solution to the industry’s demand for robust competency-based training that will prevent product contamination and show a strong return on investment.”
The partnership supports compliance with three levels of training:
Level I: cGMPs (Current Good Manufacturing Practices) and the Pyramid of Edible Safety. Level I is for employees with job titles such as Post Harvesters Production Technicians, Packagers in manufacturing facilities and general management.
Level II: The Edible Safety Plan is designed for Directors of Cultivation, Extraction Managers, QA/QC Managers, Production Supervisors up to General Managers and Vice Presidents in manufacturing operations and Chemists in lab/extraction facilities.
Level III: PCQI Online is for professionals in charge of audit readiness and the full edibles safety plans for the facility. The Level III course is the standard curriculum for the FDA’s Preventive Controls for Human Food Rule with added cannabis product plan examples.
About ImEPIK
ImEPIK is a market-driven research-based SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) company that creates self-paced online cannabis edibles and food safety courses. Their robust content is used by thousands of processing and manufacturing employees. The company is a member of the National Cannabis Industry Association with ImEPIK representative, Dr. Kathy Knutson serving as Education Committee Chair.
About Cannabis Hub powered by Cleveland School of Cannabis
Cannabis Hub is an online cannabis education company that provides certificates for skills in all areas of the cannabis industry. They serve licensees in need of onboarding and continuous education while licensing high quality education to other educational institutions.
