The candy industry told Americans for decades that their products were safe – and the FDA never bothered to check.
Now Ron DeSantis is checking.
And what Florida found right before Easter is something every grandparent filling a basket this weekend needs to see.
Florida Found Arsenic in 28 of 46 Candies Tested
The Florida Department of Health tested 46 popular candy products from 10 major companies and found arsenic in 28 of them.
That's 61% of the candy on your grocery store shelves.
The five worst offenders – measured in parts per billion – were Tootsie Fruit Chew Lime at 570 ppb, Jolly Rancher Hard Candy Sour Apple at 540 ppb, Twizzlers Watermelon at 510 ppb, Nerds Gummy Cluster at 500 ppb, and Twizzlers Strawberry at 500 ppb.
Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo didn't mince words.
"The levels of arsenic in common candies are two, three, four times higher than even foods we know have high levels of arsenic – like rice," Ladapo said.
"Compared to typical foods people eat, the levels were 20, 30, 40 times higher. It's just unbelievable."
Casey DeSantis put it in terms every parent understands.
"As parents and consumers, we should have confidence that the products sold in grocery stores are safe and free from poison," she said.
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"No one should have to wonder whether the food they are feeding their children is quietly impacting their health over time,” she added.
The Candy Industry's Response Tells You Everything
The National Confectioners Association – the lobbying arm of the candy business – didn't dispute the arsenic findings.
They attacked the methodology.
"Florida has chosen sound bites over science," the NCA said, claiming Florida used EPA testing standards designed for soil and water instead of food-specific methods.
Here's what they're really saying: the way Florida measured arsenic doesn't match the way the industry prefers arsenic to be measured.
The FDA's own testing shows arsenic in candy topping out at 15 ppb.
Florida's numbers reached 570 ppb.
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The NCA claims the difference is the testing method – that Florida inflated results by using an environmental testing protocol rather than a food-specific one.
The same lobbying group whose member Ferrara makes eight of the candies Florida flagged is now grading their own homework.
The FDA Has Been Asleep for 65 Years
The FDA's Total Diet Study – the program they use to monitor contaminants in food – has been running since 1961.
Sixty-five years of data.
And there are still no federal limits on arsenic in candy.
None.
The FDA has arsenic limits for bottled water – 10 ppb.
It has limits for baby cereal.
It has absolutely nothing for candy products consumed by millions of American children every single day.
The MAHA Commission's own report acknowledged FDA "primarily works as a reactionary force, stepping in after problems are identified."
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Casey DeSantis said exactly that at the January press conference, making clear Florida was done waiting.
"Florida is working to get in front of these problems by testing," she said, "and leading a coalition of states to trust but verify the integrity of our food supply."
DeSantis Is Already Acting
Florida isn't testing candy and publishing results.
On April 20 – three weeks from now – Florida becomes the first state to ban SNAP recipients from using food stamp benefits to buy candy, soda, energy drinks, and prepared desserts.
Trump's USDA approved the waiver in August 2025 after DeSantis pushed for it.
Three other states – Colorado, Texas, and West Virginia – are following with similar restrictions this spring.
This is what MAHA actually looks like in practice.
Not press releases.
Not task forces.
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A governor spending $5 million to test what's actually in the food sold to your kids, publishing the results, and then banning taxpayer money from funding it.
What's Safe for the Basket
Not every candy failed.
Florida tested 18 products that came back arsenic-free, including Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Hershey's Milk Chocolate, M&M's, Twix, and Milky Way.
If you're filling Easter baskets this weekend, the safest bet is sticking with chocolate – the traditional candy industry actually held up fine here.
The products with arsenic problems were almost exclusively the artificially colored, fruit-flavored varieties – Twizzlers, Jolly Ranchers, Nerds – the ones engineered to be consumed by the handful.
Which, as Casey DeSantis pointed out, is exactly the problem.
A child can safely eat roughly 96 pieces of Nerds per year under Florida's benchmarks.
Nobody eats 96 Nerds a year.
They eat that in one movie.
This Easter, the DeSantis family gave parents something the FDA never bothered to provide: a list of what's actually in the candy, and the honesty to say some of it has no business being in a child's Easter basket.
Sources:
- Florida Department of Health, "Healthy Florida First: Candy Testing Results," FloridaHealth.gov, January 26, 2026.
- Fox News Digital, "Popular Childhood Candies Loaded With Arsenic – What You Need to Know," Fox News, February 1, 2026.
- National Confectioners Association, "How Florida Got Its Arsenic and Candy Report Wrong," CandyUSA.com, February 20, 2026.
- National Confectioners Association, "NCA Statement on Florida Announcement About Arsenic and Candy," CandyUSA.com, January 27, 2026.
- USDA Food and Nutrition Service, "Florida SNAP Food Restriction Waiver Approval Letter," FNS.USDA.gov, August 2025.
- FDA Human Foods Program, "Human Foods Program 2026 Priority Deliverables," FDA.gov, February 10, 2026.
