TALLAHASSEE, Florida — The state Senate passed a wide-ranging agriculture bill Wednesday that would ban public water systems from adding fluoride to drinking water.
Details: The state Senate voted 27-9 along party lines to send to the state House legislation that also would ban flying drones over agricultural lands and prohibit makers of plant-based foods from calling their products meat.
Democrats said the legislation contained disparate topics that should have been the subject of separate bills. But they focused their criticism on the ban on water additives, including fluoride, after Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis in March backed state Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo‘s criticism of its use in drinking water to prevent cavities.
“I’m deeply concerned that three years from now we’ll be right back here scrambling to reverse this damage as preventable dental diseases will surge in our child population,” state Sen. Barbara Sharief (D-Plantation) said during debate.
