Bill would pull ultra-processed foods from Florida schools. Lobbyists are pushing back

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — An effort to ban Florida public schools from serving students ultra-processed foods, such as sugary drinks and artificially colored snacks, hit a snag in a state Senate committee on Tuesday after facing pushback from the industry that sells those products.

“There is a lot of money at stake,” Sen. Jonathan Martin, R-Fort Myers, told the Herald/Times, when asked why his bill was facing resistance and did not have enough votes to clear its first committee hearing in the Senate. The bill could still move forward in the Legislature, but it faces an uphill battle.

The proposed bill is narrowly tailored to the type of foods and drinks that Florida’s public schools can buy and then offer to students during the school day. Students would still be allowed to bring ultra-processed foods to school from home.

“It would increase our buying power,” Martin said during the hearing of the Senate Agriculture Committee. “It would send a signal to the food and beverage lobby that we want healthy food for our kids during the school days.”

“We are talking about government responsibility for government-purchased food,” he added.

Still, lobbyists who represent powerful companies in the food and beverage industry urged committee members to vote down the proposal, arguing that it would disrupt their business and that such a state regulation could make consumers think their foods are unsafe.

“Floridians should have complete confidence in their favorite beverages,” said Elizabeth DeWitt, the president and CEO of the Florida Beverage Association.

The debate over synthetic food dyes and industrially manufactured foods has gained renewed national attention as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. vows to “Make America Healthy Again” as President Donald Trump’s top health official. In January, the Food and Drug Administration banned the use of Red Dye No. 3 in food, beverages and drugs, saying the synthetic dye was found to cause cancer in lab rats. Other color additives are under review by federal administrators.

In Florida, state lawmakers in both parties are proposing bills that would more strictly regulate several artificial additives and chemicals in foods. One of the other bills Martin sponsored, dealing with chemical additives in foods, also faced industry pushback during its first committee hearing earlier this month. Another bill in the House requiring warning labels on products with synthetic dyes was also pulled from consideration in an early March meeting.

Under Martin’s bill, schools would be barred from buying foods that include 11 ingredients, including Red Dye 40, which is found in many candies, sodas and sports drinks, and potassium bromate, which is in many packaged baked goods. If foods are found to contain at least one of the 11 ingredients listed in Martin’s bill, they would be considered “ultra-processed food” that could not be purchased or served by public schools during regular school hours.

All of the 11 food additives targeted under the bill have been featured in studies that raise questions about their potentially adverse health effects in humans, according to the bill’s analysis.

For example, the bill analysis noted that in 1999, the International Agency for Research on Cancer found data that suggests potassium bromate is possibly carcinogenic to humans.

It also noted that while the FDA has not placed restrictions on some of the other additives targeted by the proposal, California passed a law that will take effect in 2027 banning four ingredients — brominated vegetable oil, potassium bromate, propylparaben and Red Dye No. 3 — that are included in Martin’s proposal.

But DeWitt, of the Florida Beverage Association, said that if the bill were to be approved, it would confuse consumers and undermine confidence in food safety regulations. Colors and sweeteners used in the products sold by beverage companies represented by the association have been evaluated and approved by federal regulators, she said.

“The FDA is now under President Donald Trump’s control and should be the lead for nationwide food product safety policy,” DeWitt said, noting that it would be difficult for national food manufacturers to abide by “a state by state patchwork” of regulations.

Sen. Keith Truenow, the Republican chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee, told Martin that even though the bill did not have the votes needed on Tuesday, he wanted to hear the bill in his committee because he believes the topic is worthy of discussion.

“I think there is a lot of work to be done and a lot of things to be talked about, and I don’t think today is the day to bring it across the finish line, but I would hope we can continue the conversation,” Truenow said.

Before leaving the committee room on Tuesday, Martin told state senators that Florida should not be afraid to lead on the issue amid federal inaction.

“We’ve never been afraid to tell the federal government they got something wrong,” he said. “And there is nothing more important than telling the federal government they got something wrong with the health and the well-being and success of our kids in the classroom.”

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(Tampa Bay Times reporter Romy Ellenbogen contributed to this report.)