KOSHER CANNABIS
Quebec producer gets blessing
A Canadian medical marijuana producer says that it is the first cannabis company in the country that has products with a rabbi’s seal of approval.
Gatineau, Que.-based Hydropothecary Corp. announced Tuesday that its processed medical marijuana merchandise had been kosher certified by the Ottawa Vaad HaKashrut, a not-for-profit agency that confirms products conform with Jewish dietary law, which prohibits foods such as pork.
Hydropothecary said the designation extended to its “readyto-consume activated marijuana powder product line,” cannabis peppermint oil and dried pot buds. A symbol denoting the kosher certification of those products will appear on their labels, according to a release.
“As the only medical marijuana company in Canada with current kosher-certified processed products, we take great pride in having the support of the Council for Kashrut (the kosher certification agency),” said Hydropothecary CEO and co-founder Sebastien St-Louis in a release.
“The kosher certification one additional layer of quality control that moves us towards alignment of a strategic goal at Hydropothecary: to make sure that quality is always first and foremost to what we’re doing,” St-Louis said in a phone interview.
“And secondly, once you have that additional quality, there are some customers that have been asking for an alternative.”
The announcement came on the eve of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.
The certification, though, is not about a blessing, said Vaad HaKashrut director Rabbi Levy Teitlebaum in a phone interview, but it’s a thorough review of how the marijuana is grown and processed.
“When I go to a company and am certifying peanut butter or strawberry jam, it’s about the actual ingredients and the equipment they’re made on,” said Rabbi Teitlebaum.
“We ensure that … how it is made and the ingredients that are within it, and the ingredients that make up those ingredients, way back to the source, back to the base ingredients, are in fact all kosher or are inherently kosher.”
Hydropothecary said its certification “requires several components, including an audit of cleaning protocols, kosher compliance review and on-site inspections throughout the year.”
Rabbi Teitlebaum said his group will do unannounced spot-checks to ensure compliance, such as making sure insects, which are not kosher, do not find their way into the products.
So far, the kosher designation for Hydropothecary only extends to the company’s medicinal offerings. Rabbi Teitlebaum said consideration of recreational cannabis, which the Canadian government aims to legalize by next July, has yet to be given.
“Right now, we’re simply saying, and it is especially because of the fact that someone needs it to get better, someone needs it to help them heal in their illness,” said the rabbi.
“According to the Torah, according to the Talmud, this is something that if we are able to help them, that is my obligation.”