Florida Senate - 2026                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. CS for CS for SB 290
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì212138"Î212138                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                  Comm: RCS            .                                
                  02/10/2026           .                                
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       The Committee on Rules (Martin) recommended the following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3         Delete lines 1856 - 1894
    4  and insert:
    5         Section 48. Section 865.065, Florida Statutes, is amended
    6  to read:
    7         865.065 Disparagement of real perishable agricultural food
    8  products; cause of action; limitation.—
    9         (1) The Legislature finds, determines, and declares that
   10  the production of real agricultural food products constitutes an
   11  important and significant portion of the state economy and that
   12  it is imperative to protect the vitality of the agricultural
   13  economy for the citizens of this state by providing a cause of
   14  action for agricultural producers to recover damages for the
   15  disparagement of any real perishable agricultural product.
   16         (2) For purposes of this section, the term:
   17         (a) “Disparagement” means the willful or malicious
   18  dissemination to the public in any manner of any false
   19  information that a real perishable agricultural food product is
   20  not safe for human consumption. False information is that
   21  information which is not based on reliable, scientific facts and
   22  reliable, scientific data which the disseminator knows or should
   23  have known to be false.
   24         (c)(b) “Real Perishable Agricultural food product” has the
   25  same meaning as the definition of the term “agricultural
   26  commodity” in 7 U.S.C. s. 7412(1). For the purposes of this
   27  section, the term applies only to those products marketed by the
   28  United States Department of Agriculture for human or livestock
   29  consumption, except that it does not apply to a hemp or hemp
   30  extract product, as defined in s. 581.217, or a product derived
   31  from a scheduled substance, pursuant to the provisions of s.
   32  893.03 means any agricultural or aquacultural food product or
   33  commodity grown or produced within the state of Florida which is
   34  sold or distributed in a form that will perish or decay within a
   35  reasonable period of time.
   36         (b)(c) “Producer” means the person who actually grows or
   37  produces real perishable agricultural food products.
   38         (3) Any producer or any association representing producers
   39  of real perishable agricultural food products which suffers
   40  damages as a result of another person’s disparagement of any
   41  such real perishable agricultural food product may bring an
   42  action for damages and for any other relief a court of competent
   43  jurisdiction deems appropriate, including, but not limited to,
   44  compensatory and punitive damages.
   45         (4) The statute of limitations for disparagement of real
   46  perishable agricultural food products is 2 years from the date
   47  the disparagement occurs.
   48  
   49  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
   50  And the title is amended as follows:
   51         Delete lines 220 - 221
   52  and insert:
   53         authorized to wear or display such item; amending s.
   54         865.065, F.S.; revising legislative findings; revising
   55         and providing definitions; revising the cause of
   56         action for disparagement of agricultural food
   57         products;