Product shelf life: What are the packaging cannabis rules within Canada’s regulated market?

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Cannabis products must be properly packaged, but like any biological material, it will degrade. Want to know what the shelf life of a cannabis product is? One might expect that information to be front and centre on packaging… but perhaps it’s best not to assume.

Within the current regulated market, “ Health Canada has not yet established a shelf life for cannabis products,” says Ray Gracewood, chief commercial officer of OrganiGram , a licensed producer of cannabis for the medial and adult-use recreational markets.

While cannabis packaging does include suggested storing techniques, such as “keep away from light” or “keep in a cool, dark place,” currently there is no expiry date printed on cannabis product labels, reports Jason Broome, senior vice president of operations for Flowr , a B.C.-based cannabis producer that combines old-world craftsmanship with state-of-the-art technology.

Like any biological material, though, cannabis will eventually degrade; as it stands, licensed producers are simply not required to provide the data as it relates to the “character and quality of the product over time,” Broome says.

The Cannabis Act states “the label of a container must not include an expiry date unless the holder of the licence for processing that manufactured the cannabis product […]