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Event Details
Thursday December 12, 12:00pm - 1:00pm
Current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMPs) have been commonly followed by food, beverage, and dietary supplement manufacturers for decades to ensure their products are fit for purpose while lowering operating costs, improving efficiency, and streamlining regulatory compliance. Implementation of cGMPs will vary from business to business and can lead to misinterpretation about which cGMPs to conform with and why. This presentation will serve to address these misinterpretations and other misconceptions about cGMPs through a 101-level overview of the concept and its implications on the cannabinoid-containing product marketplace.
Since Missouri license holders are required to implement a Quality Management System using a published standard, this presentation will also provide examples of Quality Management Systems encompassing cGMPs to which licensed operators in Missouri can get certified and information on certification bodies servicing the cannabis industries (marijuana and hemp).
Learning Objectives:
1. Participants will receive a general overview of cGMPs and how they are crucial to instilling consumer trust.
2. Participants will learn the benefits of implementing cGMPs and the cost associated with getting GMP certified, gaining an understanding of how this 4-figure investment can prevent a 7-figure loss.
3. Participants will have their misconceptions about cGMPs corrected through a clear explanation of what they are and what they are not (cGMP does not equal pharma, unless you are making pharmaceuticals).
4. Participants will be shown examples of quality management systems they could get certified to like SQF, ISO 9001, ISO 22000, GFSI Benchmarks, and others for foods and dietary supplements, as well as cannabis (marijuana and hemp) specific programs like FOCUS, CSQ, USHA, and NIHC Verify.
5. Participants will learn of which certification bodies are servicing the cannabis industries (marijuana and hemp).
Speaker Bio: Darwin Millard is a 17-year cannabis/hemp industry veteran, cannabinoid extraction specialist and policy change-maker. Colloquially known as “The Spock of Cannabis,” Millard has focused on the extraction and manufacturing of nutraceutical products containing cannabinoids for nearly two
decades, helping companies “live long and process” by implementing cost-effective, purpose-driven phytocannabinoid processing and herbal product manufacturing solutions. Millard specializes in mechanical and solvent based extraction methods for isolating highly volatile terpenophenolic secondary metabolites from botanicals, and his expertise has progressed the cannabinoid product industry forward. In 2012, Millard took part in developing the first legally sold CBD dietary supplement and he’s since worked in some capacity with every major publicly traded cannabis operator at some point in their business lifecycle.
Throughout his vast industry experience, Millard learned first-hand about the need for standardization within the cannabis industries, which led him to where he is today. Now Millard champions the benefits of standardization as the Technical Director for Cannabis Safety & Quality (CSQ), the first accredited safety and quality certification program to meet ISO requirements and regulatory requirements from seed-to-sale for the manufacture of cannabinoid-containing products. In addition to his role at CSQ, Darwin is an award-winning member of ASTM International’s Technical Committee D37 on Cannabis, a group dedicated to the development of voluntary consensus standards for the global cannabis/hemp industry. He’s also ASTM’s Subcommittee Vicechair of D37.04 on Cannabis Processing and Handling and the Subcommittee Chair or D37.08 on Personal-use Cannabis Devices and Appliances.
