Efforts to ban Florida public schools from offering students to ultra-highly processed foods, such as sugar-colored snacks, have won obstacles in a state Senate committee on Tuesday after facing a boost from the industry selling those products.
Sen. Jonathan Martin of R-Fort Myers told The The Times/Herald when he asked The The Times/Herald why his bill was facing resistance and that he didn’t have enough votes to clear his first committee hearing in the Senate. The bill could still move forward in Congress, but it faces a difficult battle.
The bill is narrowly adjusted to the types of food and drinks that Florida public schools can purchase and offer to students. Students are permitted to bring ultra-treated food from home to school.
“It will increase our purchasing power,” Martin said during a hearing for the Senate Agriculture Committee. “When you were a student, you would signal to the food and drink lobby that your kids wanted healthy food.”
“We’re talking about the government’s responsibility for the food it has purchased,” he added.
Still, lobbyists representing strong companies in the food and beverage industry have urged committee members to vote for the proposal, claiming that it would disrupt their businesses, and that such state regulations can make consumers think their food is unsafe.
“We’ve seen a lot of fun and fun,” said Elizabeth DeWitt, president and CEO of the Florida Beverage Association.
As Robert F. Kennedy Jr. vowed to “make America healthy again” as President Donald Trump’s top health official, the debate over synthetic food dyes and industrially manufactured foods attracted public attention. In January, the Food and Drug Administration banned the use of red dye No. 3 in food, beverages and drugs, saying that synthetic dyes were found to cause cancer in laboratory rats. Other color additives are under review by federal administrators.
In Florida, state legislators of both parties are proposing legislation that would more closely regulate some artificial additives and chemicals in food. One other bill sponsored by Martin deals with chemical additives in food, which faced industry pushbacks at a committee hearing earlier this month. Another bill that requires warning labels for products with synthetic dyes was also drawn from consideration at a meeting in early March.
Under Martin’s bill, schools are prohibited from purchasing foods containing 11 ingredients, including 40 red dyes found in potassium bromate, found in many candies, sodas, sports drinks, and many packaged baked goods. If it is found that the food contains at least one of the 11 ingredients listed in Martin’s bill, they are considered “ultra-processed foods” that public schools were unable to purchase or provide during normal school hours.
According to an analysis of the bill, all 11 food additives targeted under the bill have been featured in studies questioning the potential health impacts on human health.
For example, an analysis of the bill noted that in 1999, the International Institute for Cancer Research discovered data suggesting that potassium bromate could be carcinogenic to humans.
Analysis of the bill shows that the FDA has not imposed restrictions on some of the colour additives targeted in the proposal, but noted that other states are taking action.
California Food Safety Act, which will take effect in January 2027, prohibits the production and sale of these four ingredients: brominated vegetable oil, potassium bromate, propylparaben, red dye No. 3. These four ingredients are included in Martin’s suggestion.
It also noted that California passed a law banning four ingredients in 2027, although the FDA has not imposed restrictions on some of the other additives targeted in the proposal.
However, DeWitt of the Florida Beverage Association said that when the bill is approved, it will disrupt consumers and undermine trust in food safety regulations. The colours and sweeteners used in products sold by beverage companies represented by the association are being evaluated and approved by federal regulators, she said.
“The FDA is currently under President Donald Trump’s control and should be the leader in national food safety policies,” DeWitt said, saying it would be difficult for national food manufacturers to follow “states with national patchwork” of regulations.
Sen. Keith Truneau, Republican chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, told Martin on Tuesday he wanted to hear about his committee’s bill, as he believes the topic is debate-worthy.
“I think there’s a lot to do and a lot to be talked about. I don’t think today is the day to pass the finish line, but I hope we can continue the conversation,” Truenow says.
Before leaving the committee room Tuesday, Martin told the state senator that he should not be afraid that Florida will lead the issue amid federal inaction.
“We were never afraid to tell the federal government that they had gotten something wrong,” he said. “And there’s nothing more important than telling the federal government that there’s something wrong with the health, happiness and success of children in the classroom.”
Times staff writer Romy Ellenbogen contributed to this report.
