The cannabis edibles market continues to boom, as consumers increasingly embrace everything from gummies to chocolate bars to even savory Funyon-like snacks backed by Snoop Dogg.

As a food science professional, it’s thrilling to watch the blossoming of this novel category of food. But tracking the rise of the industry also gives me pause: one food safety slip-up, and the industry could suffer immensely in the eyes of consumers and among regulators.

In addition, I think more widespread adoption of consumer-facing seals, coupled with boosted consumer awareness of the seals, could burnish the reputation of the edibles industry, and lead to increased sales. I have long cheered the ripening of consumer awareness of the USDA certified organic program. Companies that gain the organic seal broadcast to consumers their commitment to practices that are healthy for both people and the planet. Similar programs have emerged in cannabis. I support more widespread participation in these programs among cannabis growers, and urge edibles brands seeking competitive advantages to source cannabis from certified growers, and broadcast their embrace of especially high-quality cannabis.

I also believe edibles brands should do a better job engaging with radical transparency. The many edibles brands across the United States that invest heavily in safety and quality protocols don’t do a good enough job touting their commitment to keeping customers safe, in my opinion.

Finally, I’d like to encounter more government-stoked pride about the edibles products that not only help attract tourists, but also contribute mightily to municipal bottom lines.

The marketplace remains awfully young; it effectively only got started in 2014, when Colorado kicked off the parade of states across the country endorsing recreational cannabis sales, which led to increasingly more states also adopting medical cannabis regulatory regimes. Now is the time to help establish this dynamic industry’s many advantages, and to build a nationwide reputation for strong product quality and stout safety.

If the industry does it right, I think edibles could capture more market share and become the go-to cannabis option for countless consumers than today. Many consumers shrink from smoking or vaping substances; a recent report from cannabis market data firm Headset, for example, showed that edibles market share of the overall cannabis market grew from 10.7% in January of 2021 to 12.1% in September of 2022. This steady growth doesn’t surprise. Munching on a watermelon gummie or sipping a cannabis-infused kombucha? What’s not to savor?

The Adoption of Third-Party Audits

Anybody in the United States who buys a bag of gummies, a chocolate bar or a tin of hard candies walks away from the store with a product that is likely subject to third-party certifications for food safety. Most packaged foods sold in the US, in fact, endure third-party audits. The regulatory environment surrounding food has yielded a model for safety around the world.

The situation is much different for cannabis edibles products. Only four states require third-party audits. None of the regulatory regimes in the states could be described as comprehensive; instead, they generally address just select areas of edibles manufacturing.

Some people looking in from outside might argue that this development is great for cannabis, at least from a financial perspective. Abiding by manufacturing standards, paying for third-party audits, and dealing with the aftermath of failed tests costs money. By skipping over these aspects of the traditional food industry, so the reasoning goes, the cannabis industry creates more affordable products for consumers, while still maintaining healthy profits.

But the sentiment doesn’t hold up under scrutiny. The establishment of cannabis food safety standards, coupled with third-party oversight, would lead toward cost savings for cannabis edibles manufacturers; among other things, it could actually lead to less testing. It also would boost public safety, enhance the reputation of the cannabis edibles industry and increase consumer trust in the bags of infused treats they purchase at their favorite dispensaries.

People think audits for food safety are more expensive than they really are; in fact, they are fairly affordable. At the same time, brands that hew to standards and submit to third-party auditing of their products save money by eliminating the need for more extensive testing, and optimizing manufacturing efficiencies and protocols.

Third-party audits for food safety don’t eat into brands’ profits; in fact, in the long run they lead to cost savings, higher sales and healthier profits.

The Need for More Consumer-Facing Seals in the Cannabis Industry

The cannabis industry today supports a few excellent third-party-audited seals that broadcast the quality of the cannabis plant that fuels the entire industry, including the edibles slice of the pie.

As I mentioned, I consider the USDA certified organic program a model for the power of consumer-facing seals backed by stout and comprehensive regulations and guidelines, and rigorous oversight. With food, certified organic adds competitive advantages to brands, and allows for higher prices. Consumer awareness is high.

As the federal government still considers cannabis a Schedule 1 drug, cannabis cannot receive the USDA organic seal. But programs like OCal in California are filling the gap, offering cannabis growers opportunities to abide by strict, uniform standards that roughly mirror those that determine USDA organic certification.

Another seal, Clean Green Certified, also offers organic-like certifications for growers in six states. The Clean Green Certified program additionally ensures that the cannabis growing practices follow regenerative agriculture practices, and are vegan.

Neither of these seals enjoys the sort of widespread consumer awareness of the USDA organic seal. But the people behind them, and the participating companies, are making a difference in this dynamic and nascent industry.

For all edibles brands that obsess over quality and care deeply about product safety, I think supporting organizations like these serves both the brands and the overall industry.

Don’t Skimp on Bragging Rights

Hire videographers to film key processes in your edibles manufacturing facility — and anchor the videos prominently on the website. Blog about all of the things that you are doing right. Engage with the media — make sure they understand that your commitment to safety and quality is strong and comprehensive. On your product packaging, invite people to head to your website explicitly to learn more about all that you are doing to ensure their safety, as well as the quality of the watermelon gummies they just bought.

Efforts like this can increase sales and burnish reputation. That’s key. But they also help improve the overall impression of the edibles industry. The more companies that evangelize on behalf of the things they are doing to serve the consumer, the better. For now, an awful lot of edibles messaging hinges on branding, which is OK — branding is important. But I’d like to see at least equal attention paid to spreading the word about brands’ rigorous approaches to safety and quality.

Government to the Rescue?

Stay with me, here. The cannabis marketplace now is national, with legal recreational sales in 21 states, and medical (sometimes combined with recreational) in 37 states. Chances are, those numbers will continue to grow across the 2020s.

For now, government involvement with cannabis is extremely hands on with industry stakeholders — regulatory oversight tends to be intense — but entirely hands off when it comes to touting the industry and its players. This is not the case with industries like craft beer, many agricultural products (Georgia peaches, anyone?), automobile manufacturing and much more.

Cannabis is contributing enormous sums of revenue to municipal coffers. It’s time for states with legal cannabis to begin championing their industries — they already evaluate them with immense scrutiny, and ding them with every violation. As a result, they understand just how tough it is to remain in compliance, and how compliance translates into companies on top of their games.

States, why not trumpet your uniquely comprehensive and probing regulatory programs, and along the way praise the edibles companies under your purview that pass muster? Look at how Kentucky became synonymous with quality Bourbon. Colorado with artisanal craft beer. Wisconsin with cheese, New Mexico with chiles and California with wine.

With cannabis edibles, government officials in every legal state enjoy opportunities to lift the industry. I’d love to witness more government-backed pride for cannabis industries. Cannabis tourism contributes mightily to the tax revenues of states with legal cannabis. Maybe it’s time, states, to compete with other states with a bit more vigor.

The cannabis edibles industry today is dynamic, vibrant, always evolving and undergoing rapid expansion. Let’s do what we can to protect its gains, further enhance its reputation for safety and quality, and build increasingly more consumer awareness about the measures companies are taking to improve the consumer experience.