Health Canada issues recall on mislabelled cannabis oil product from Cannabis NB

A recall has been issued on certain Cannabis extract pills sold at Cannabis NB that were mislabeled as containing CBD when they actually contained THC.

CBD is a non-psychoactive compound found in cannabis that many believe has medical benefits.

THC is the psychoactive compound in cannabis and produces the high most commonly associated with the drug.

Namaste CBD Light gelcaps, produced by Zenabis, have been recalled by Health Canada because of the mislabelling.

In a statement, Zenabis spokesperson Jordan Owens said the company, which has operations in New Brunswick, announced the recall on its website last week and has been working with Cannabis NB to get the word out.

The Health Canada notice was posted Tuesday.

"Cannabis NB has confirmed to us that 603 units are still in stock (i.e. unsold) to be returned to Zenabis," said Owens.

Cannabis NB said it has "posted notices for customers to make them aware of the recall."  But as of mid-afternoon, Cannabis NB had not posted notices about the recall on its social media accounts or website. 

Recall 'concerning'

The packaging of the capsules say they contain 6.13 mg of CBD, when they actually contain 2.25 mg of THC.

Lynda Balneaves, an associate-professor in nursing who is researching cannabis at the University of Manitoba, said that is a "large" discrepancy. She said you can get high off that dosage, especially if you don't normally take THC.

"That could be really concerning for individuals, especially if they are, you know, working in a safety-sensitive role, if they are wanting to drive, if they want to operate heavy machinery," said Balneaves.

"CBD is usually used for things like anti-anxiety, used for inflammatory issues. You wouldn't be expecting to feel high off of it." 

Balneaves also said many people taking CBD are doing so for pain relief and joint problems and may take more than one dose, since they're not psychoactive.

She said that could cause problems if they take mislabelled pills.

According to Health Canada, 165 units of the product have been sold at Cannabis NB locations since October.

The recall said Zenabis has received one complaint about the recalled capsules, and Health Canada has received none.

"Neither Health Canada nor Zenabis Ltd. have received any adverse reaction reports for the recalled cannabis product lot," said Health Canada.

Growing concern?

This is not the first time cannabis oil has been recalled because of mislabelling this year in New Brunswick.

In February, Health Canada issued a recall of Ontario-based CannTrust Inc. CBD oil under the brand "Liiv."

In that case, the outer packaging said the product contained CBD oil, which was incorrect.

The bottle of oil inside the packaging was correctly labelled as containing THC oil, but that could only be determined by opening the outer package.

In that case, 714 units of mislabelled oil were sold, according to Health Canada.

Balneaves said it's concerning that a mislabelled product was sold to the public, but the recall shows the government's system is working.

"It's much better than what we had before, which was, you know, illegal products where there was absolutely no regulation or oversight of what were in these products," said Balneaves.

"So to me, our system is working. And hopefully the more oversight we have the more that we can ensure the safety of these products for all Canadians."