• CATCH identifies analytical laboratories that adhere to the highest standards of testing
• Trustworthy laboratories help assure compliance and mitigate risks for involved parties
• Consumer health and safety as well as growth of the industry depend on adoption of national standards and regulations for hemp testing

CHICAGO, Sept. 02, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — 357 Hemp Logistics (357 Hemp), an innovative global hemp transportation provider and subsidiary of The 357 Company (357), is identifying testing laboratories that have been shown to perform at the highest standards of testing for potential inclusion in the newly created Consortium for Accurate Testing of Cannabis & Hemp (CATCH). CATCH member laboratories will be DEA-registered, ISO 17025-accredited laboratories that test cannabis and hemp products to determine whether total THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) content is within the legal limit and whether cannabis and hemp products contain pesticides, residual solvents, bacterial contamination, heavy metals, or fungal metabolites. Testing protects all parties in the supply chain, including the grower, carrier, processor, retailer and consumer. 357 Hemp Logistics encourages its network partners, as well as businesses across the hemp and cannabis supply chain, to recommend laboratories for inclusion in CATCH and to use laboratories in CATCH to assure compliance with applicable regulations and to mitigate risk.

Accurate and precise determinations of THC concentrations are critical to the hemp industry, because the total THC concentration in all products must be less than the federally-established limit of 0.3% or the crop or product must be destroyed. Furthermore, interstate transport of hemp containing total THC greater than 0.3% is illegal and may subject all involved parties to federal and/or state drug trafficking charges, shipment delays or confiscation, fines and/or imprisonment.

357 has identified KCA Labs as the first company to earn entry into the CATCH due to its extensive experience in highly regulated industries, its use of validated testing methodologies, and extensive internal quality assurance procedures that assure precise, accurate, and repeatable results that conform to or exceed all governmental and regulatory agency requirements. Additionally, KCA is accredited to ISO 17025 standards and is committed to providing testing of the highest quality.

“There is a surprising amount of variance between how laboratories test hemp,” stated Kevin Schultz, 357 President and Co-Founder. “Our lives and livelihoods are literally in their hands, so it is not enough just to be a DEA-registered laboratory or an ISO 17025 accredited laboratory. Instead, we need to work with experienced professionals who know how to test all types of products accurately. We trust KCA Labs because their testers are chemists who have extensive experience in testing for highly regulated substances, rather than inexperienced laboratory technicians. They know how to optimize testing for flower, isolates, distillates, and oils using different approaches, so we have a high degree of confidence that their results are valid, precise, accurate and repeatable. They are an important element in helping us meet our goal of delivering compliant product and preventing costly impacts upstream and downstream in the supply chain.”

KCA Labs’ team of scientists has extensive experience in analytical testing, academic/industrial research, accreditation, natural products, anti-doping, pharmacokinetics and drug metabolism, and regulatory auditing organizations. Their extensive experience enhances their ability to perform hemp testing, and KCA regularly participates in proficiency sample programs administered by the University of Kentucky and the National Institutes of Standards and Technology (NIST). KCA employs state of the art instrumentation and has optimized each method and all instrument parameters for the most precise and accurate results.

“We’re honored to be selected for CATCH, because we know how seriously 357 takes compliance and how important it is to the cannabis and hemp industries,” stated Ryan Bellone, KCA Labs Commercial Director. “We are grateful that 357 recognizes our expertise, our commitment to customer service, and that we strive to ensure the highest standards of accuracy and precision. We pride ourselves on achieving complete recovery of cannabinoids from plant materials and we perform testing with and without dilution to ensure precision and accuracy in determining minor and major cannabinoids in all plant samples. We encourage the adoption of national standards and regulations for hemp testing because consumer health and safety, as well as the growth of the industry, depend on them.”

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About 357 Hemp Logistics

357 Hemp Logistics, a division of The 357 Company, is setting the standard of excellence for hemp logistics and supply chain management, centered around compliant standard operating procedures and dedication to unparalleled customer service and education. Headquartered in Illinois, 357’s leadership team collectively has over 50 years of transportation, logistics, medical device, and supply chain management experience, in addition to developing operational processes and procedures for some of the largest brands in the restaurant home delivery and highly regulated medical cannabis industries, including GrubHub, Verano, and PharmaCann. For more information on 357 Hemp Logistics and the industry visit www.357Company.com and follow 357 on social media: Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

About KCA Labs
KCA Laboratories, LLC is a third-party analytical chemistry laboratory focused on advancing the science of hemp and beyond. With a client base across 45 states and 6 countries, KCA provides regulatory testing, analysis for contaminants, and research and development. KCA also provides consultation on sample collection, customized research and development, and scientific guidance on contamination issues and method development. KCA Labs’ analysis is respected industry-wide and provides essential risk reduction and optimization for every stage of the value chain in the emerging hemp industry. Based in Nicholasville, Kentucky, KCA Labs is licensed with the Kentucky Department of Agriculture, performs regulatory testing for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is registered with the DEA, and is accredited to the ISO/IEC 17025:2017 standard by PJLA with accreditation number 108651.

CONTACTS:
357 Company
Media: Julie Shepherd, Accentuate PR, 847 275 3643, [email protected]
Sales/Investors: 844.357.SHIP (7447), [email protected]

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• KCA GCMS hemp testing