Haleigh's Hope issued the following announcement on July 1.
Certification of compliance with the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) recognizes the highest level of quality manufacturing that a maker of foods, beverages, cosmetics, dietary supplements or pharmaceutical ingredients can receive. FDA's GMP standards can be exceedingly difficult and expensive to achieve but is necessary to act as a 'firewall' for protecting the food supply and ensuring the general health of the population. Manufacturers seeking FDA's GMP certification are faced with formidable challenges to demonstrate manufacturing cleanliness, process controls, product consistency, employee and consumer safety, and product traceability. GMP compliance is required by the FDA for all consumable products manufactured for commercial distribution in the United States.
As it relates to the manufacturer of cannabis products, which have become consumer products of increasing popularity and utility, very few companies have yet been able to attain the level of manufacturing sophistication needed to achieve GMP certification. In fact, until recently, the University of Mississippi was the only organization in the United States that had received the coveted GMP certification for manufacture of Cannabis Sativa L. and cannabis-derived products. This exclusive certification has been known throughout the cannabis and hemp industry as the 'NIDA/Ole Miss Monopoly.' This monopoly forced all clinical researchers to obtain their cannabis and cannabis derivatives from University of Mississippi via the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA.) However, despite the implications of quality manufacturing represented by GMP certification, the low-quality cannabis supplied by NIDA/Ole Miss for research purposes has drawn repeated public complaints by world-renowned researchers.
To address this problem, and to make available cannabis products of the highest quality to both researchers and consumers, Haleigh's Hope, Inc. is very pleased to announce that after years of requests to obtain GMP certification, the company's efforts finally paid off on May 9, 2019. After several lawsuits and successful policy changes, GMP certification is now possible for state and federally compliant cannabis manufacturing facilities.
As described by Jason Cranford, Founder and Interim CEO for Haleigh's Hope, Inc.:
"We are thrilled to receive this certification and to have the opportunity to join a very small population of other GMP Certified labs that work with cannabinoids. This is a goal that I have been working towards for almost a decade. We scored a 98 on the compliance audit and we are aiming for 100 on the next annual audit!"
And as noted by Dr. Joshua Jones, Chief Scientific Officer for Haleigh's Hope, Inc., who holds a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the Graduate Center of The City University of New York:
"It makes me very proud to be partnered with a company such as Haleigh's Hope, who has taken the slow and careful road to implement Good Manufacturing Practices. At a critical point in the evolution of the cannabis industries, including industrial hemp, Haleigh's Hope is going above and beyond many competitors to ensure quality in their products as verified and enforced by GMP certification. It is my role to oversee the GMP program at Haleigh's Hope, and to ensure the quality of products remains consistent."
It is the goal of Haleigh's Hope, Inc. to set the bar in manufacturing practices for a burgeoning industry in the early stages of regulation. The company's main objective is to meet and exceed the level of quality expected by health-minded consumers.
About Haleigh's Hope®
Haleigh's Hope® is a high quality, whole-plant hemp extract containing naturally occurring cannabinoids. It is made from 100% USDA Organic Certified, non-GMO verified ingredients. Haleigh's Hope, Inc. was the first vertically integrated hemp based product that contains CBD to be issued USDA Organic Certification on its product line.
Haleigh's Hope® is named after Haleigh Cox who, in conjunction with Haleigh's Hope, has a state law named "The Haleigh's Hope Act" in their honor. Her Epilepsy and Cerebral Palsy were greatly affected by an oil derived from this strain of hemp. This low-THC, high-CBD cannabinoid profile was finally achieved after five years of crossing and selecting from hundreds of different phenotypes. Haleigh's Hope® is considered a hemp product because it was derived from a Cannabis Sativa L. plant containing less than 0.3% THC.
For more information, please visit http://haleighshopemedia.com
Original source can be found here.
