Beyond these threats, the findings – and the Healthy Florida First initiative under which the Florida Department of Health conducted the food safety test – could increase tensions between state and federal regulators. Ultimately, these threats go far beyond the safety of a handful of candy brands – encompassing instead farther-reaching questions about how food safety data is gathered, assessed, framed and politicized, and what that could mean for oversight and businesses’ bottom lines. What Florida tested and foundThese potential implications stem from the expansion of the Healthy Florida First initiative, which Gov. The results also show that many confections were free from elevated levels of arsenic and other heavy metals. Candy is a case study, not the pointAs underscored by the different takes on Florida’s results, the importance of the state’s initiative and findings go far beyond candy to reveal the importance of how food safety is assessed and shared – and by whom.