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TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Florida could ban chemical additives in food by 2028 under a new bill introduced Monday by lawmakers from Southwest Florida.
Sen. Jonathan Martin (R-Fort Myers) filed the SB 560 on Monday ahead of the legislative meeting that begins next month.
The bill manufactures, sells or distributes foods containing brominated vegetable oils, potassium bromate, propylparaben, red dye 3, blue dye 1, yellow dye 5, benzidine, butylated hydroxyanisol, or butylated hydroxytoluene. Food facilities are prohibited.
Chemicals contained in the ban are associated with the potential increased risk of cancer.
“Some chemicals cause cancer,” Martin said in a post on X.
Anyone who violates the law could be fined up to $5,000 for the first offense and $10,000 for the second and subsequent offenses.
If passed by Congress and signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis, the ban will come into effect on January 1, 2028.
According to the Food and Drug Administration, ferocious vegetable oils, or BVO, were commonly used in fruit-flavored drinks to prevent the citrus flavor from “floating.” The FDA banned the use of BVO in food on July 3, 2024. Many products have been reformulated to replace BVO and are rarely found in US beverages.
The FDA recently banned the use of red dye 3.
