Nearly 200 of batches of cannabis flower – some more than a year old – have been recalled after Colorado regulators discovered “potentially unsafe levels of total yeast and mold,” including the fungus aspergillus.
The Department of Revenue and Department of Public Health and Environment said the tainted product originated from Living Rose Wellness, a medical marijuana dispensary in Colorado Springs, the state’s second-most-populous city.
Colorado Springs is unique in one of the nation’s oldest recreational markets because it allows only MMJ sales, Denver-based alt-weekly Westword noted.
Nine batches of flower produced between March and August and sold at the Living Rose were found to have excessive yeast and mold.
Another 19 batches were contaminated with aspergillus, according to an Oct. 26 news release.
An additional 154 batches, grown between September 2021 and July 2022, were found to have been untested by the Living Rose despite state requirements to do so.
The state did not say how untested cannabis was sold, nor did it indicate any potential punishment for the lapse.
A common mold, aspergillus is particularly harmful for people with weakened immune systems who can experience lung and sinus infections after breathing in spores.
State regulators instructed any consumers still in possession of the potentially tainted cannabis to discard the product or return it to the point of sale.