So you think you can cook pot?

evaluating the knowledge of food safety and edible safety between users and non-users of cannabis edibles in British Columbia

Abstract

Background: With regulations on additional cannabis products including edibles being in the works, Canada is faced with a new layer of food safety challenges as the public becomes increasingly curious about adding cannabis into their diets. Knowledge in both food safety and edible safety is essential to prevent health hazards associated with edible cannabis products. Methods: An online self-administered survey was conducted on a British Columbia population. In addition to demographic data which also included cannabis usage, participants answered two knowledge tests on food safety and edible safety, respectively. The surveys were analyzed for differences in test scores between demographic groups. Results: Users of cannabis edibles have significantly higher knowledge in edible safety than non-users. This was not affected by the purpose or frequency of edible use. A slight positive correlation (0.18) between food safety knowledge and edible safety knowledge suggested the two topic areas to be mutually beneficial. In contrary, knowledge in food safety was not significantly different across all demographic groups. Conclusions: Non-users of cannabis edibles are more at risk of health hazards related to ingestion of cannabis edibles due to lower knowledge in this subject matter and eagerness to experience cannabis products after their legalization. Therefore, there is a need for education programs to help familiarize the public with these products. It is also recommended for the public to strengthen general food safety knowledge because all of it also applies when making edibles.