The fluoride-free movement has continued to grow throughout the world at a staggering pace. We have had more than 400 communities around the world end existing fluoridation programs or reject new efforts to fluoridate either by council vote or citizen referendum since 1990.

    In 2014 alone, we’ve confirmed that at least 30 communities providing water to more than 9,961,111 residents rejected or ended fluoridation. Some of 2014’s victories include:

•         Bucks County, Pennsylvania 385,000
•         Hernando County, Florida 173,422
•         Bolton, U.K. 276,790
•         Southampton and parts of Hampshire County, U.K. 195,000
•         Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada 76,550
•         Prince George, British Columbia, Canada 71,970
•         Rotorua, New Zealand 70,000

    See the full list of victories.

Israel Bans Fluoridation

    Nearly eight million residents in Israel will no longer have fluoride added to their drinking water.

    On July 29, 2013, the Supreme Court of Israel ruled¹ that new regulations approved by the current Health Minister, Yael German, required the country to reverse its 14-year-old nationwide fluoridation mandate and stop adding fluoride chemicals into public water supplies in 2014.

    These regulations ended the national mandate, but it was thought that individual communities could choose to fluoridate. However, the Health Minister stated in August 2014 that fluoridation would be outlawed throughout the country as of August 26.²

    Minister German was aggressively attacked in the media for her new regulations. In response to the intense bullying of German by the pro-fluoridation lobby in Israel, FAN sent an open letter³ to the Minister supporting her opposition to the practice and had it signed by over 100 international professionals.

    With the fluoridation ban in Israel, the victory numbers jumped up substantially, adding countless more communities throughout the nation without fluoridation.

    This brings the number of people freed from the practice in 2014 to nearly 10 million, making 2014 the best year yet for the fluoride-free movement! In comparison, last year we saw about 1 million freed from the practice.

    When we add Israel to the number of residents freed from fluoridation since 1990, we are talking about a whopping 14.8 million people. This also brings the official number of countries in the world with 50 percent of their population drinking fluoridated water down to 10, and leaves Ireland as the only country with mandatory fluoridation.