Florida House passes bill that would ban fluoride in drinking water

The Florida House on Tuesday passed SB 700, which is a wide-ranging bill that includes a provision preventing local governments from using a “water quality additive” for purposes other than meeting drinking standards, improving water quality or removing contaminants. It passed 88-27.

The bill also prohibits the mislabeling of plant-based foods as poultry, meat, milk or eggs. For example, instead of a company labeling a drink “almond milk,” the bill would require it to be labeled “almond beverage,” which opponents argued would cause further confusion for consumers.

Since the bill has passed both the House and Senate chambers of the state Legislature, it will now move to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ desk for consideration.

“It’s consumer protection, and it’s consumer choice,” Rep. Kaylee Tuck, R-Lake Placid, a co-sponsor of the bill, said before the vote Tuesday. “I hope the politicized portions don’t get lost in every good thing this bill does.”

The bill doesn’t explicitly use the word fluoride — neither does HB 651, a similar bill that also moved through the state Legislature this year — but legislators have confirmed it would be removed.

“Nobody argues, here at least, that fluoride has a benefit to your body,” said Hillsborough County Republican state Rep. Danny Alvarez, a co-sponsor of the bill. “What we argue is that we can’t force you to have it, or any other drug, that some simple majority may believe is good for you in the future.”

Fluoride naturally occurs in water but water fluoridation enables governments to adjust fluoride to the optimal level to help fight tooth decay. And removing fluoride, experts say, could increase rates of tooth decay among children and low-income communities.

Across the state, at least 900,000 Floridians live in jurisdictions that have already removed fluoride — this bill would require all local governments to follow suit.

“It’s not just bad science, it’s an attack on working people,” said Rep. Daryl Campbell, D-Fort Lauderdale. “This is a give to conspiracy theories at the expense of common sense and public health.”

Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando, a vegan, proposed two amendments that would have removed the highly contested provisions of the bill.

“Removing fluoride also ignores basic scientific concerns,” she said. “This decision is preemptive, and we should let locals decide.”

Citing “soy boys” and “vegan girlies,” Eskamani also wanted to strike out the mislabeling portion of the bill, but neither amendment passed.

“This type of control over a private company is anti-competitive,” she said. “It’s unnecessary language.”

The plant-based labeling portion of the bill would go into effect once 11 of 14 southeastern states also pass similar legislation. Those states are: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.

Tuck said one state has passed a provision on milk labeling, but Florida would be the first to pass one for meat, eggs and poultry.

“If you tell me that I’m drinking oat milk, then pray tell where the milk is in that beverage,” Alvarez said. “If you argue against this bill, what you’re asking me to do is vote for falsehoods in labeling.”

Tampa Bay’s city and county leaders have in recent months acknowledged that this legislation was heading toward the governor’s desk, and opponents of removing fluoride argued they should wait for a statewide decision instead of preemptively removing it.

In Tampa Bay, Hillsborough County voted to keep it in drinking water in February, as did the Clearwater City Council earlier this month.