Steven and David Perez

By Barbara R. Fallon

For many All in the Family conjures up the iconic TV show from the 70’s … but to the Perez family, it means Americanna Laboratories, a family operated business that strives to translate a 30-year legacy of expertise into bringing good science to the cannabis testing industry to ensure the safety of products to consumers. 

Americanna Laboratories is a pharmaceutical grade laboratory performing advanced analytical testing on all hemp and CBD products using leading edge instrumentation for greater accuracy and faster turnaround times, based in Jacksonville, Florida.

Brothers Steven Perez, CEO, David Perez, COO and their father Rolando Perez, Chief Scientific Officer, formed Americanna Laboratories in 2018 as a division of ADPEN Laboratories. Their mother, Maria Julia, who passed in 2017, was an original founder of ADPEN Labs and remains the inspiration for Americanna’s efforts to help advance the science of cannabis for cancer patients who need it for relief. The Perez Family partnered with Greg Stringfellow, M.D., Chief Medical Officer and Brian DiTore, CFO, to round off their executive team.

ADPEN is a global leader of Agrochemical, Nutraceutical, Pharmaceutical and Food Safety testing for over 30 years. Now, with more than 30 employees strong (MD’s, PhD’s, microbiologists, chemists and business entrepreneurs) Americanna Laboratories provides analytical testing to cultivators, dispensaries, inhalable formulators, nutritional and herbal supplement manufacturers.

Americanna partnered with Agilent Technologies, a global leader in instrumentation for life sciences, diagnostics and applied chemical markets using patented instrumentation and trusted collaboration to give clients the highest confidence in test results. 

“Americanna, a DEA registered lab, is dedicated to using the right instrumentation to get the job done, on time and efficiently. Accordingly, in 2019, Americanna achieved ISO/IEC 17025:2017 accreditation, the world’s highest level of quality standards and the foundation of good science in testing laboratories,” Steven Perez stated. 

“We provide comprehensive cannabis testing for potency, homogeneity, microbial contamination, heavy metals, mycotoxins, residual solvents, and pesticides on all forms of cannabis from flowers to oils and tinctures to edibles,” he explained.

 Earning accreditation, along with EPA and FDA audit compliance, assures consistent, precise and accurate methods to detect cannabinoid levels, pesticides, and other contaminants, and a rigorous quality management system. 

“Our COA delivers clients a premiere testing investment in their brand reputation,” David Perez commented, “and an assurance of quality product for the end user.”

Additionally, they also participate in The Emerald Test™ an Inter-Laboratory Comparison and Proficiency Test (ILC/PT) program for cannabis testing facilities. It brings to the cannabis industry a well-established standard for testing found in the environmental, food, pharmaceutical, water, and petrochemical testing industries. Through the participation of labs around the world, the ILC/PT helps establish an industry benchmark for cannabis testing.

Accreditation also requires personnel to be deemed competent to perform all testing on the scope of accreditation in compliance with differing state and federal regulations. With a global client base, Americanna Labs employs knowledgeable chemists and technicians who utilize state-of-the-art technology and equipment to certify potency, safety, purity and cleanliness of the regulated cannabis product and insure homogeneity and efficacy of product dosage. The result is a certified end-product free of contaminants, including pesticides, microbiological agents, chemicals and heavy metals. Proficient, skilled and accurate professionals are at the core of earning accreditation.

In 2018, Florida elected a new Commissioner of Agriculture who recently announced the creation of a Director of Cannabis position to share knowledge, highlight issues and participate in solutions to insure a safe market. Americanna Laboratories founders foresee a role as a strong patient advocate in the testing section of the supply chain. Because Americanna has a global client base they maintain a continually updated knowledge base of rules and regulations which vary from state to state and country to country. As a pharma-grade laboratory with review and approvals from a full range of agencies, clients are assured that quality systems are in place at the highest levels.

“We have partnered with scientific agencies within the industry and validated our methods with peers presenting white papers and webinars to help standardize methods within the industry,” Steven Perez noted. 

As for the future, the Perez family sees that cultivators will demand real time access to their product results which may entail mobile laboratories to monitor and report THC levels and contaminants on a weekly basis. 

“The consequences of a contaminated product could lead to serious health implications to an immune-compromised patient or a consumer using hemp and CBD final products; thus, early immediate access to results will be demanded by cultivators and manufacturers of all cannabis products and we will pursue all avenues for research and delivery of information to our clients,” he noted. 

For more information, visit americannalaboratories.com or call (904) 549-5948.