Republican Sen. Joe Gruters, of Sarasota and Manatee counties. (Photo by Jackie Llanos/Florida Phoenix)
The Florida Legislature for the first time Wednesday heard testimony about a measure that would prevent vaccines from being incorporated into food products.
The bill (SB 196) sponsored by Sarasota Sen. Joe Gruters would prohibit fruits and vegetables in Florida containing vaccines. It also would amend the definition of the word “drug” to also mean a “food” as defined in Florida law.
Scientists have been studying the possibility that DNA containing the mRNA vaccine can be implanted into the part of plant cells where it will be replicated, and whether those plants can produce enough mRNA to rival a traditional vaccine shot, according to the Senate bill analysis. mRNA technology was the basis of primary Covid-19 vaccines.
Scientists have said that, if successful, plants such as lettuce and spinach could produce the vaccines and be grown in backyards and even entire fields.
Gruters’ measure defines the mRNA vaccine (which stands for messenger ribonucleic acid) as one that uses laboratory-produced mRNA to trigger the human body’s immune response.
The bill passed unanimously in the Senate Committee on Regulated Industries without any comments, questions, or dissent from the committee or the public.
Miami-Dade Republican Sen. Alexis Calatayud added an amendment to the measure that would ban cosmetics that include 10 specifically listed chemicals that release formaldehyde.
Scott Shelley with the Florida Retail Federation said his organization did have “significant concerns” with the amendment, specifically “as it relates to lead and the ability to obtain that and the number of products impacted overall.”
A companion version of Gruters bill has been introduced in the House (HB 525) by Brevard County Republican Monique Miller. In introducing the bill, she said that with vaccine materials integrated into food, that food “must be subject to the same regulation as a vaccine. To do otherwise undermines medical freedom, and the basic decency of consumer transparency.”
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