As we all know, Colorado is in the forefront of legalizing and regulating the sale of marijuana and related products. As it is an extremely young, rapidly growing and rapidly changing industry there has been a lot to learn.

One of the main segments of the industry has been edibles, which are marijuana-infused foods, usually (but certainly not limited to) desserts like cookies and brownies.

Previous Cannabis Infused Food Nutrition Labeling Requirements

Nutrition labeling has generally been optional on infused foods, as most companies have either been under the FDA exemption limits for nutrition labeling or within the grace period after growing beyond those limits.

And since cannabis infused products are not allowed to be sold in places like grocery stores, there aren't any third parties requiring nutrition labels on these foods.

That is changing though.

New Nutrition Labeling Requirements

As of February 1, 2015 packaging and labeling requirements changed for marijuana product manufacturing facilities and retail stores selling those products.

Specifically, edible marijuana products now need to include nutrition fact panels based on the number of THC servings in the container along with an ingredient list and potential allergens

Other Cannabis-Infused Labeling Requirements

The new labeling rules, like the old ones fall into a few categories - required labeling, permissive labeling (which previously included the nutrition fact panels), and required labeling based on whether or not certain lab tests were performed.

Aside from those listed above, requirements are mostly as expected and quite numerous: license numbers of facilities where marijuana was grown, production batch numbers for both the marijuana concentrate and final product, license number of the manufacturing facility, net weight statement, usage instructions, identity statement and state symbol for retail marijuana products, universal symbol, a number of warning statements, lists of nonorganic pesticides/herbicides/solvents/chemicals used.

If tested for potency, the label must list the potency expressed in milligrams as well as the number of servings. If not tested, it must state that the product wasn't tested. There are further requirements when contaminant testing is performed.

The optional labeling permits labels to state compatibility with dietary restrictions.

Key Takeaways

We are quite impressed with the progress and consensus reached by the State of Colorado on these issues. They are moving quickly and creating high standards for labeling in order to track products and fix issues if they arise.

We're also excited to work with these businesses. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to leave a comment, livechat us, or call or write us an email. And to read the full documentation, you can visit the Colorado Department of Revenue Marijuana Enforcement Website.