Health Canada recalls more strains from troubled cannabis producer

A commercial cannabis producer in Winnipeg under investigation for selling unapproved cannabis products has been hit with a second recall notice.

Health Canada announced Monday it is recalling 14 additional lots of Bonify dried cannabis as a precautionary measure.

Last week, Manitoba's Liquor, Gaming and Cannabis Authority and the Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries Corp. announced Bonify cannabis had been seized from the province's retailers and delisted after two strains from the producer were recalled in Saskatchewan earlier this month over contamination issues.

In the second recall, product is being removed because of "record keeping issues with production documents that may not meet the requirements," the notice said. Nearly 5,900 units of recalled product were sold in Manitoba and at two Saskatchewan retailers — New Leaf Emporium and Spiritleaf.

Mislabelling product

Eight of the lots also had a labelling error where the cannabinoid values were reversed, Health Canada said.

The affected strains are Critical Plus, White Widow, Sensi Star, Wappa, White Berry and CBD Shark Shock. They've been on sale since Oct. 22, Health Canada said.

Neither Health Canada or Bonify have received any complaints about the products. 

The LGCA said last week it seized all 20 grams of Bonify cannabis the few Manitoba stores were carrying.

The agency is encouraging consumers who bought products from Bonify to return them, in their original packaging, for refund to the store where they were purchased.

LGCA spokesperson Kristianne Dechant said Manitoba acted swiftly by yanking Bonify's products from the shelves last week.

"We still support Health Canada in issuing this recall … because that just gives more attention to the fact that there could be quality control issues, labelling issues with these products, and it encourages Manitobans to return them to the store."

Health Canada said Friday that Bonify has removed company executives and brought in third-party management to "review how unapproved cannabis products were released for sale."

The cannabis producer, which declined to answer questions Monday, will hold a news conference on Dec. 27 to "release its investigation report on the irregularities pertaining to the recalled product."