Last week, Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Wilton Simpson announced that Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) inspectors uncovered over 8,700 hemp-extract packages that were attractive and/or marketed to children at Top Private Label Co. in Daytona Beach, Florida.

FDACS inspectors working with information shared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) inspected the facility and issued stop-sale orders for the hemp-extract packages to prevent any potential harm to consumers.

“As Florida’s Commissioner of Agriculture, I am deeply committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of Florida’s children and consumers — especially from products like these that can pose serious risks when ingested by children,” said Simpson. “Our collaborative efforts with Senator Colleen Burton and Representative Will Robinson during the 2023 Legislative Session provided much-needed consumer protections for hemp-extract products. With local, state, and federal partners, we’re taking bold steps to enforce these critical changes to Florida law and to keep harmful products out of the hands of our young ones.”

During the 2023 legislative session, Simpson worked with the Florida Legislature to reform Florida’s hemp laws to better protect consumers and children. A bill which became law added age requirements for the purchase of hemp products intended for human consumption, protected Florida’s minors by prohibiting marketing that targets children, protects consumers by mandating that products sold in Florida be packaged in a safe container, and holds hemp products that are ingested to the same health and safety standards as other food products.

To enforce these law changes, the department conducted the largest ever inspection sweep of businesses selling products that contain hemp extracts in July and August. The statewide inspection sweeps specifically targeted the sale of hemp-extract products that are attractive and/or marketed to children, which is prohibited by Florida law. The sweep included inspections of more than 700 businesses in all 67 Florida counties and uncovered over 83,000 packages of hemp-extract products, including euphoric, high-potency THC products, targeting children. Since July 1, the department has uncovered over 107,400 packages of hemp-extract products targeting children.