{"id":102229,"date":"2026-01-01T13:21:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-01T13:21:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/102229\/"},"modified":"2026-01-01T13:21:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-01T13:21:09","slug":"florida-lawmakers-move-to-ban-paper-straws-from-restaurants-concerning-health-risks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/102229\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida lawmakers move to ban paper straws from restaurants concerning health risks"},"content":{"rendered":"

A bill introduced in\u00a0Florida takes aim at paper drinking straws<\/a> and stirrers at\u00a0food businesses and restaurants.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Senate Bill 958 was introduced Dec. 18 \u2014 with an identical House bill, HB 2195, introduced Dec. 26 \u2014 to limit what cities and counties can do to regulate drinking straws and stirrers.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany businesses and communities in this state are using paper drinking straws and stirrers as a purportedly better option for public health and the environment,\u201d HB 2195 states.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, independent university studies have shown that most paper straws contain harmful PFAS chemicals,<\/a> exposure to which is linked to concerning health risks.\u201d<\/p>\n

The bill states that any\u00a0regulation of drinking straws\u00a0must be based on \u201cgovernment policy driven by science.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a 2023 study published in the journal Food Additives and Contaminants, University of Antwerp researchers in Belgium found that 90% of paper straw brands tested contained PFAS chemicals.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Researchers found PFAS chemicals in 27 of 39 different straw variants, concluding the chemicals were most likely used as a water-repellent coating.<\/p>\n

PFAS chemicals were most frequently detected in paper straws.<\/p>\n

A bill introduced in\u00a0Florida takes aim at paper drinking straws and stirrers at\u00a0food businesses and restaurants.\u00a0 Tetiana Ivanova \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n

Researchers found PFAS chemicals in 27 of 39 different straw variants, concluding the chemicals were most likely used as a water-repellent coating. Prathankarnpap \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n

If local officials choose to regulate straws, the rules would require them to be renewable, home- and industrial-compostable certified and marine biodegradable.<\/p>\n

If passed,\u00a0the law would take effect\u00a0the day it is passed, with a deadline of Jan. 1, 2027, for local governments to update existing straw laws.<\/p>\n

The rule does not apply to hospitals, medical centers or senior care facilities. It also does not apply to prepackaged drinks.<\/p>\n

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President\u00a0Donald Trump<\/a>\u00a0took aim at paper straws in February, issuing an executive order banning<\/a> the federal use of paper straws.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlastic straws are often replaced by paper straws, which are nonfunctional, use chemicals that may carry risks to\u00a0human health, are more expensive to produce than plastic straws and often force users to use multiple straws,\u201d the executive order says.<\/p>\n

The order points out the switch is counterproductive because \u201cpaper straws sometimes come individually wrapped in plastic.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI was tired of having straws melt in my mouth. You know, it wasn\u2019t working,\u201d Trump said in July.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe solved so many commonsense problems, and they weren\u2019t easy. You know, there are people that really believe in this stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n

If passed,\u00a0the law would take effect\u00a0the day it is passed, with a deadline of Jan. 1, 2027, for local governments to update existing straw laws. AH \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n

The order points out the switch is counterproductive because \u201cpaper straws sometimes come individually wrapped in plastic.\u201d Rido \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n

In related news, a bill introduced in\u00a0New Jersey would ban\u00a0on-site restaurants\u00a0from providing single-use utensils to customers unless requested.<\/p>\n

The bill was introduced in May and revised Dec. 18.<\/p>\n

Instead of plastic utensils<\/a>, it would require restaurants to provide reusable, washable utensils for customers who are\u00a0eating their meals\u00a0on site.<\/p>\n

Restaurants would also not be allowed to provide condiments to on-site customers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The bill states takeout customers may receive them if specifically requested.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A bill introduced in\u00a0Florida takes aim at paper drinking straws and stirrers at\u00a0food businesses and restaurants.\u00a0 Senate Bill…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":102230,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29,4451,571,712,53380,53381],"class_list":["post-102229","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-food-drink","tag-health","tag-law","tag-plastic-straws","tag-politicians"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102229","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102229"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102229\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/102230"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102229"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102229"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102229"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}