By Jim Saunders, The News Service of Florida
TALLAHASSEE — The Florida House on Tuesday gave final approval to a bill that would prevent local governments from adding fluoride to water supplies and take aim at labeling of plant-based products as milk, meat and eggs.
The Republican-controlled House voted 88-27 to pass the bill (SB 700), which also includes a series of other issues related to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. The Senate passed the bill April 16, which means it is now ready to go to Gov. Ron DeSantis.
The bill came amid debates in cities and counties across the state about ending the decades-old practice of adding fluoride to public water supplies to improve dental health. Rep. Danny Alvarez, a Hillsborough County Republican who helped sponsor the bill in the House, said government agencies should not decide whether to put drugs and chemicals in people’s bodies.
“This is not about fluoride,” Alvarez said. “This is about your liberty.”
But bill opponents said adding fluoride to water supplies is a public-health measure that, in part, helps protect children from having cavities and other dental problems. Rep. Daryl Campbell, D-Fort Lauderdale, described the bill as a “gift to conspiracy theories.”
“Not only is it (water fluoridation) safe, it’s a game-changer for dental health,” Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando, said.
DeSantis and state Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo support removing fluoride from water supplies. If DeSantis signs the bill, Florida would follow the lead of Utah, which this year became the first state to ban fluoride in public water supplies.
While the bill — dubbed the “Florida Farm Bill” — involves numerous issues, almost all of the debate surrounding it has focused on the fluoridation ban and placing restrictions on labeling plant-based food.
The bill would set up a process that could lead to the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services adopting rules that would prevent the sale of plant-based products “mislabeled” as milk, meat, poultry or eggs.
That process would be triggered if at least 11 of 14 states pass similar legislation. Those 14 states are Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.
Rep. Kaylee Tuck, a Lake Placid Republican who helped sponsor the bill, said the labeling restrictions are aimed at preventing confusion among consumers.
“The issue is making sure the consumer knows what they are buying,” Tuck said.
But opponents disputed that consumers are confused about buying products such as oat milk or almond milk. Eskamani, who said she is a vegan, argued that the goal of the bill is to hinder demand for such products by creating confusion.
“All the labels are very clear,” Rep. Ashley Gantt, D-Miami, said.
Four Democrats joined Republicans in voting for the bill. They were Rep. Kevin Chambliss, D-Homestead; Rep. Kimberly Daniels, D-Jacksonville; Rep. Gallop Franklin, D-Tallahassee; and Rep. Johanna Lopez, D-Orlando.
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Fluoride in drinking water inhibits calcium from being absorbed in bones and therefore increases plaque in arteries.
Typical left-wing banality from DeepStatePropagandist. Chlorine is necessary to treat and provide clean and safe drinking water… Fluoride is not.
Drinking Fluoride to prevent cavities is analogous to drinking sunblock to prevent a sunburn. Fluorides best use is as a topical agent such as rinses or toothpaste. Most Fluoride added to public drinking water systems today is a byproduct of the fertilizer manufacturing industry… look up (Hydrofluorosilicic acid). It is quite costly to manage/dispose of that process’s wastewater.
Remember the old adage from the 60’s… “Dilution is the solution to pollution”
Many countries have discontinued water fluoridation, including the Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Northern Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland (again, referring to different contexts), Romania, Scotland, Slovakia, and Sweden.
The European Commission has reviewed the practice and found no advantage to water fluoridation compared to topical use of fluoride. Most European countries have experienced substantial declines in cavities without the use of water fluoridation. For instance, Finland and Germany saw stable or declining tooth decay rates even after discontinuing water fluoridation.
A federal court ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must take action regarding the fluoridation of drinking water due to potential health risks. The ruling, issued on September 26, 2024, by U.S. District Court Judge Edward Chen, did not ban fluoride but ordered the EPA to engage with a regulatory response. The plaintiffs, including Food & Water Watch and the Fluoride Action Network, argued that fluoride poses an unreasonable risk of harm, particularly to pregnant women and children.
The court’s decision was based on mounting scientific evidence suggesting that fluoride at high levels may have harmful neurotoxic effects, especially on developing brains.
This is a typical MSM bad article and fails to note the real reasons behind the legislation. And to all you Capital District Leftists, shouldn’t we mirror what your wonderful socialist European countries do already?
Every time you think you’ve seen the dumbest conservative idea, they come back with something even dumber. The epidemiological data is crystal clear on this, there isn’t any debate as to if fluoridation of water actively prevents cavities. It costs basically nothing, the infrastructure is in place, and it saves a ton of people money and dental health.
“The bill came amid debates in cities and counties across the state about ending the decades-old practice of adding fluoride to public water supplies to improve dental health. Rep. Danny Alvarez, a Hillsborough County Republican who helped sponsor the bill in the House, said government agencies should not decide whether to put drugs and chemicals in people’s bodies.”
Why bother filtering water at all? Why add chlorine to our water supply, I mean, that’s a chemical too, right? What has convinced Danny Alvarez that chlorine is OK, but fluoride isn’t? Maybe cause he thinks it is a drug for fish that the conservatives all wanted to take for COVID?
This is like one step from watering our crops with Brawndo because plants crave electrolytes. We are in the dumbest possible timeline and some of us are cheering about it.
Fluoridation of public water supplies is a mass medical procedure without consent. You can choose to use toothpaste with fluoride, I’m sure you could even find a way to add it to your own water at home or this will create a market for fluoride drops or some such. But, to dose an entire population without their consent is wrong no matter how you look at it.
People are responsible for their own teeth. I’m not interested in paying tax money to make sure you get fluoride in your cup of coffee every morning. It’s not my problem to solve with my money.