Scots firm inks testing kits deal

A Scottish food safety specialist is expecting increased demand for its test kits after agreeing a tie-up with an unnamed Canadian cannabis producer.

Glasgow-based R-biopharm Rhône has agreed to supply kits that it is claimed help detect carcinogenic toxins often present in products based on cannabis.

It comes after it has for some years produced and distributed its test kits for analysing foodstuffs – such as milk, spices, cereals and animal feed – for various toxins.

The firm said it had been at the “forefront” of food safety in the UK in recent years, particularly during the horsemeat scandal of 2013, and highlighted recently developed methods applied to plant products such as herbal medicines with structural similarities to cannabis. It added that amid the legalisation of cannabis in several countries, producers are “looking to R-biopharm Rhône for its expertise in helping safeguard consumers’ health”.

Claire Milligan, a product manager at R-biopharm Rhône, said: “Strict consumer protection legislation requires that cannabis products, including oils, cookies and cannabis plants themselves, should be tested for the presence of dangerous toxins.

“And while the legality of cannabis products in the UK is currently the subject of wide-ranging debate, in those jurisdictions, such as Canada, certain states in the US, Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands, where consumption of cannabis products is permitted, testing for toxins remains of great importance.

“In the wake of the sale to our Canadian customer, we anticipate further demand for our test kits in other regions where consumption of cannabis is legal as well as perhaps, at some stage, here in the UK.”

R-biopharm Rhône, based in the West of Scotland Science Park, said it sells more than 70 per cent of its output to global firms outside the UK.