RE:RE:RE:Mettrum Globe says Mettrum products found to contain pesticides
2016-12-29 06:05 ET - In the News
The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday edition that banned pesticide myclobutanil has been discovered in products sold by Mettrum ($6.38). The Globe's Grant Robertson writes that myclobutanil is not approved for use on plants that are combusted, such as tobacco or cannabis. It emits hydrogen cyanide when heated. The Mettrum discovery was made recently, when a random screening of the company's products by Health Canada turned up the unauthorized use of pyrethrin, a pesticide that is also not approved for medical cannabis. Mettrum issued a voluntary recall of the affected products on Nov. 1 and said the pyrethrin was used by mistake. However, when Health Canada performed further tests on the samples, it also discovered they contained myclobutanil, which all producers know is a banned substance. However, for unknown reasons, neither Health Canada nor Mettrum announced the findings to the public. Instead, on Dec. 1, Mettrum issued a vague news release saying that "as a result of further testing and working with the full co-operation of Health Canada," the company was adding "a small number of additional product lots" to its previous voluntary recall. The company made no mention of myclobutanil.