Are these everyday foods secretly poisoning our kids? Casey DeSantis exposes hidden toxins in pantry staples



“People have the right to not be poisoned. Sounds really common sense, but unfortunately, there are a lot of companies in the food industry that do not agree,” BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey says.

That’s why the Florida Department of Health has taken matters into its own hands by launching the Healthy Florida First initiative. Spearheaded by Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, first lady Casey DeSantis, and Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo, this program independently tests common food products for contaminants — such as heavy metals, pesticides like glyphosate, and other toxins — to promote transparency, accountability, clean food systems, and informed choices for families.

The results of Florida’s testing have revealed contaminants in many everyday foods like candy, breads, and even baby formulas.

On this episode of “Relatable,” Allie sits down with Casey DeSantis to discuss some of the most shocking findings.

Baby formula

“When we got the [baby formula] results back, we were very startled and obviously disquieted by the fact that there was 17 out of 24 that came back with problematic levels of arsenic, lead, cadmium, and mercury,” DeSantis says, noting that after 2025 Consumer Reports data revealed contamination in several name brand baby formulas, many companies’ products “still [have] problematic contaminants.”

Some of those brands include top-sellers, like Enfamil and Similac — both of which had multiple varieties test positive for contaminants such as arsenic, mercury, cadmium, and lead.

“[Heavy metals] don’t just leave the body easily, right? ... Unfortunately, what our surgeon general in Florida has said that you have a definite increased risk of cancer over the course of your lifetime if you’re consuming this early in life,” DeSantis tells Allie.

“It is not fair to any mother to go into a store, to have to sit there and wonder which option is better than another when all of it should be safe.”

Bread

Several top brands of bread were found to contain a chemical called glyphosate, which is one of the most commonly used weed killers worldwide.

“It’s Roundup. ... It kills plants, and so there’s no reason why any of that should be in any product that we’re consuming,” DeSantis says.

Florida Surgeon General Dr. Ladapo, she says, has warned that consuming glyphosate can cause problems “at the cellular level with your microbiome.”

But even more disturbing are the label warnings on Roundup, she says, which caution users to avoid all skin contact skin and inhalation.

“There’s all of these problematic things with being in close proximity to glyphosate. [It’s] probably safe to assume that it’s not good in the food supply in bread,” DeSantis says.

And yet, testing from the Healthy Florida First initiative detected glyphosate in 6 out of 8 popular brands, including Nature’s Own, Dave’s Killer Bread, Wonder Bread, and Sara Lee.

Candy

Most people know that candy isn’t the healthiest food choice, but many have no clue that in addition to the high sugar levels, many top candies contain arsenic — a known human carcinogen.

Florida’s Department of Health tested 46 top candy products and found that 28 (60%) had detectable levels of arsenic in them. Some of those include Laffy Taffy, Nerds, SweeTarts, Jolly Ranchers, Twizzlers, Kit Kat, Snickers, Skittles, and Sour Patch Kids, among several others.

DeSantis gives a real-life example of how drastically this can impact a child.

“Our analysis found that if you eat more than 96 Nerds over the course of a year, for a child, you are exceeding the allowable threshold of arsenic for a child. ... It’s realistic to assume that children are eating more than 96 individual Nerds. When you look at a box that you get in a movie theater, there's 8,000 Nerds in it,” she says.

Crunching the numbers: Eating a full box of Nerds (8,000 pieces) would expose a child to more than 83 times the yearly safe limit of arsenic set by Florida’s Department of Health — just from that one movie-theater treat.

The occasional piece of candy isn’t concerning, DeSantis says. “It’s the consumption in aggregate that is very problematic.”

“That has to be taken into account, and that has to be disclosed to parents so that they can make better decisions,” she adds.

To hear more, watch the full episode above.

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Abbott's baby formula plant to shut down for weeks after severe flooding



Less than two weeks after reopening its baby formula plant in Michigan, Abbott Laboratories was forced to stop production again – this time because of severe flooding.

Torrential rain from severe storms overwhelmed the stormwater system in Sturgis – which caused flooding in the city on Monday. Abbott's plant that produces baby formula was shut down because it suffered flood damage.

"As a result, Abbott has stopped production of its EleCare specialty formula that was underway to assess damage caused by the storm and clean and re-sanitize the plant," Abbott said in a statement released on Wednesday. "We have informed FDA and will conduct comprehensive testing in conjunction with the independent third party to ensure the plant is safe to resume production. This will likely delay production and distribution of new product for a few weeks."

Abbott noted that the plant would not reopen until it has been cleaned and re-sanitized. Once the plant reopens, it will begin producing EleCare – an amino acid-based, hypoallergenic formula for babies.

"Based upon historical demand and current projections, Abbott has ample existing supply of EleCare and most of its specialty and metabolic formulas to meet needs for these products until new product is available," the statement read.

FDA Commissioner Robert Califf personally spoke with Abbott CEO Robert Ford and gave an update on the flooded plant during a Senate hearing on Thursday.

"We have twice-daily intensive calls about all the work on the infant formula issue," Califf said. "And at the end of the call yesterday, I commented it was one of the first days that we hadn’t had any surprises. Twenty minutes later, the email came across about the flood in Sturgis."

"We had hoped to have a super supply so that we get the shelves completely restocked," Califf continued. "The estimate is perhaps two weeks, but it's too early to give an exact estimate of what the delay will be in the Sturgis plant."

Califf said he and Ford have a "shared desire to get the facility up and running again as quickly as possible."

Califf wrote on Twitter, "While this is an unfortunate setback and a reminder that natural weather events can also cause unforeseen supply chain disruptions, I want to reassure consumers the all-of-government work to increase supply means we’ll have more than enough product to meet current demand."

"We know Abbott is working quickly to assess the damage and will be reporting its progress to us in the days ahead," the FDA commissioner said. "Once the company establishes a plan, FDA will be back in the facility working to ensure that they can restart producing safe and quality formula products quickly."

The Michigan plant only reopened on June 4 after it was shut down in February. The factory was closed down for nearly four months because of complaints of infants becoming sick from bacterial infections while consuming formula produced at the Sturgis plant.

The Washington Post reported last week, "The Food and Drug Administration investigated reports that as many as nine children have died since early 2021 after consuming baby formula produced at an Abbott Nutrition plant in Michigan — seven more than previously acknowledged by the FDA, according to newly released documents."

Abbott told Fox Business that "there is no causal relationship between Abbott’s products and the reported deaths" from cronobacter sakazakii bacterial contamination.

"Abbott conducts microbiological testing on products prior to distribution and no Abbott formula distributed to consumers tested positive for cronobacter sakazakii or salmonella," the company said. "All retained product tested by Abbott and the FDA during the inspection of the facility came back negative for cronobacter sakazakii and/or salmonella. No salmonella was found at the Sturgis facility."

An FDA spokesperson said, "There is no scientific evidence linking the other seven deaths with the evidence from those case complaints and our investigation of the Abbott Nutrition Sturgis plant, including extensive product testing, which is why these additional complaints were not previously made public in connection with the Abbott investigation."

Abbott issued a recall of EleCare and other specialty formulas in February after reports of the sick infants surfaced.

The recall and plant closure caused the nationwide baby formula shortage.

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There will be a Sriracha shortage this summer



Hot sauce lovers may soon find themselves in hot water as a looming shortage of Sriracha may soon leave grocery store shelves barren of the popular condiment.

Huy Fong Inc., the Southern California-based manufacturer of Sriracha, confirmed that due to a global shortage of chili peppers, it will be suspending the sale of its iconic condiments, The Guardian reported.

In an email issued to loyal customers this past Spring, Huy Fong Inc. described the pepper shortage as “severe” and was related to climate change.

The company reportedly sources many of its peppers from various farms across California, New Mexico, and Mexico, and indicated that weather conditions affecting the poor quality of peppers being grown in these locations are deepening the shortage of chili peppers.

In the company’s email, it was indicated that all orders submitted after April 19 would be fulfilled after Labor Day.

“Unfortunately, this is out of our control, and without this essential ingredient we are unable to produce any of our products,” the company said.

The company added, “We understand this may cause issues. However, during this time we will not accept any new orders to be placed before September as we will not have enough inventory to fulfill your order.”

Hot temperatures and a historically merciless drought across the western regions of the U.S. have been taking a heavy toll on the farmlands where Huy Fong Inc.’s chili peppers are grown. The U.S. Drought Monitor reported that the whole state of California is in a “severe drought” with the state’s Central Valley facing “extreme drought” conditions.

The imminent inability to purchase Sriracha is just the latest shortage to impact American consumers.

In late May, a top U.S. general suggested that the grain shortages were going to get so much worse that the U.S. military might need to conduct manned missions to help Ukraine export grain that is currently unable to be exported due to Russian blockades along the Black Sea coast. It’s unclear, at this time, what such an approach would entail.

Also in late May, the out-of-stock rates for baby formula soared to 70%. Baby formula is not expected to be restocked until mid-July at the soonest. The Abbott Nutrition plant in Sturgis, Michigan was not able to restart production on baby formula until recently on June 4.

An Inspector General from the Department of Health and Human Services is expected to investigate the Biden administration’s response to the shortage of baby formula.

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