Legislators in Tennessee and Arizona appear to be preparing their states for the addition of vaccines to their food supply.
Though they come from different states, the two bills were introduced only weeks apart.
Neither of the bills prohibit vaccines from being added to food.
Rather, they accept the addition as inevitable.
Tennesee
A new Tennessee bill would make it a Class C misdemeanor to sell or distribute food containing vaccines without clearly labeling them as such.
The bill was filed for introduction on January 5, 2023.
“This bill adds to the list of prohibited acts constituting Class C misdemeanors the manufacture, sale, or delivery, holding, or offering for sale of a food that contains a vaccine or vaccine material unless the food labeling contains a conspicuous notification of the presence of the vaccine or vaccine material in the food,” HB 0032 reads.
The bill defines “vaccine or vaccine material” as a “substance intended for use in humans to stimulate the production of antibodies and provide immunity against disease, prepared from the causative agent of a disease, its products, or a synthetic substitute, treated to act as an antigen without inducing the disease, that is authorized or approved by the United States food and drug administration.”
The legislation’s sponsor, Republican Representative Scott Cepicky, doesn’t want to stop vaccines from being added to his state’s food supply.
He just wants to let consumers know whether pharmaceuticals have been added to their next meal.
“If you go to buy tomatoes, and there’s a polio vaccine in there, that you’re aware of what you’re buying as a polio vaccine,” said Rep. Cepicky.
“The problem we have is if it’s not treated as a pharmaceutical. How many tomatoes do I have to eat to get the proper dosage versus how many tomatoes do you have to eat? And if you eat too many, do you get an overdose?”
The Republican representative noted that the University of California, Riverside has already “perfected” vaccinating lettuce.
He also pointed to the University of California, Berkeley, which has conducted similar tests on tomatoes.
R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company has done similar work with tobacco products.
During a legislative session on the matter, Democrat Rep. John Ray Clemmons questioned whether having vaccines in fruits and vegetables is even legal in Tennessee.
Cepicky emphasized that his bill is not meant to prevent vaccines from being put into food.
“I’m not arguing that point,” Cepicky responded to Clemmons, arguing only that vaccinated food should be listed as a pharmaceutical “so people can get the proper dosage.”
Watch the interaction below:
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