Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, First Lady Casey DeSantis and Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo announced on Monday new food safety findings under the Healthy Florida First initiative, including testing results for candy products marketed to children.
The Florida Department of Health conducted tests on 46 candy products from 10 companies, identifying arsenic in 28 of the products tested.
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This initiative follows earlier testing of 24 infant formula products, which revealed elevated levels of heavy metals.
“Our ‘Healthy Florida First’ initiative promotes innovation, ensures accountability and empowers Floridians to make the healthiest choices for their families. Transparency is vital to that mission,” Gov. DeSantis said.
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He highlighted Florida’s commitment to ensuring safe food for children through the initiative’s expansion to include testing for other products marketed to minors.
“As parents and consumers, we should have confidence that the products sold in grocery stores are safe and free from poison,” First Lady DeSantis said.
She emphasized the importance of this testing in providing families with peace of mind regarding the safety of food products for their children.
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Ladapo underscored the importance of the testing toward the goal of overall food safety.
“Food is an essential part of life and we need it to be as safe and nutritious as possible,” he said. “We believe that evaluating risks and communicating our findings to the public are essentially steps for driving the change we seek in the food industry and improving the health of Floridians.”
The results of both the candy and infant formula testing initiatives are available at ExposingFoodToxins.com.
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