ORLANDO, Fla. – The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services removed more than 20,000 packages of illegal hemp products in Central Florida during the state’s ongoing operation to ensure new child-protection standards, officials told News 6.

Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Wilton Simpson announced in a news release issued Wednesday the updated results for Operation Safe Summer, the state’s attempt to ensure hemp retailers are complying with new child-protection standards for hemp products included in amendments to Florida rule 5K-4.034.

Over the past three weeks, the department removed more than 85,000 packages of illegal hemp products in 40 counties, FDACS said, for violations including packaging, labeling and marketing.

The state’s updated Operation Safe Summer week-by-week totals:

• Week 1: 38,861 packages removed

• Week 2: 40,796 additional packages removed

• Week 3: 6,024 additional packages removed

• Total to date: 85,681 illegal hemp packages removed

The state issued announcements in April and June, the release said, threatening administrative action if hemp food stores did not comply with the amendments to the rule.

Key updates to the rule included:

• Prohibition on specified color additives.

• Mandatory child-resistant packaging.

• Certificates of analysis must now include laboratory information, the concentration of total delta-9 THC and confirm the presence or absence of prohibited substances and pathogens.

• Restrictions on marketing and advertising of hemp and hemp extract intended for human consumption.

• Enhanced labeling requirements, including the use of common household measurements for serving sizes and providing the scannable barcode or QR code must link to the certificate of analysis within three or fewer steps.

• Water activity for cannabis flower or leaves must be 0.60 (±0.05).

News 6 reached out to FDACS officials and found that, in total, 20,409 hemp packages were removed from 26 stores across eight counties in Central Florida.

The number of stores in each county:

• Orange – 7

• Volusia – 5

• Brevard – 5

• Polk – 4

• Lake – 2

• Osceola – 1

• Seminole – 1

• Flagler – 1

“Florida will not tolerate the sale of dangerous, illegal hemp products that endanger our children,” Simpson said in a statement. “In the first three weeks of ‘Operation Safe Summer,’ FDACS has removed over 85,000 hemp packages that violate our child-protection standards – and we’re not done. We will continue to aggressively enforce the law, hold bad actors accountable, and put the safety of Florida’s families over profits.”