A batch of “Blueberry Muffin” strain cannabis products produced by Bend Cannabis Co. has been recalled by the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission after testing positive for arsenic.

The product poses a risk to public health and safety and should not be sold or consumed, according to a press release from the commission. Anyone who purchased the recalled products is encouraged to destroy them, and those with health-related concerns about the product should contact their medical provider or Oregon Poison Center at 800-222-1222.

The commission is currently using the state of Oregon’s Cannabis Tracking System to identify affected inventory and issue notices to retailers and other licensees. Product sales halted on June 23, 2023, and commission staff are continuing to look into the matter.

Under Oregon Health Authority rules that were announced on March 31, cannabis products produced after March 1, 2023 are required to be tested for microbiological contaminants and heavy metals. The Bend Cannabis Co. was in compliance with state testing requirements, the press release stated, as the recalled products were harvested in December 2022.

Since 2017, 27 products have been recalled by the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission. Twenty-five of those products were cannabis-based and 13 of them were recalled in 2023.

Bryant Haley, spokesperson for the commission, said that as health authority testing mandates increase, he projects that recalls may increase as well.

When the cannabis market was underground, Haley said, consumers had no idea of the values of THC or other cannabis components that they were consuming. As OHA sets new testing standards, Haley said, an increase in recalls or changes in growing methods can be expected.

The main problem with cannabis is that’s a schedule I drug under federal law, which makes research on cannabis consumption more difficult.

“It’s an ongoing conversation in Oregon and at the national level,” Haley said. “We need the federal level issue to be taken care of.”

Hunter Neubauer, president of the Oregon Cannabis Association and the co-founder and chairman of Oregrown industries, said organic cannabis cultivation is more likely to face problems with heavy metal testing enforced by the Oregon Health Authority.

Heavy metals are naturally occurring substances in soil and water across Oregon, Neubauer said. Organic inputs, or fertilization, naturally have traces of heavy metals like arsenic in them. Kelp meal, one type of fertilizer, is dried and powdered kelp seaweed.

Synthetic-based cannabis farmers rely on salt and non-organic substances to grow their products, and will not face as many testing problems for heavy metals.

Required testing for microbiological contaminants and heavy metals is just the most requirement issued by the Oregon Health Authority . In April, the agency issued a new rule that requires all cannabis products to be tested for aspergillus, or mold, salmonella and E. coli.