Apeel Is Coming for Your Produce
Plus a Short Hot Pants Farming Club Update
I learned about Apeel back in May 2023 and immediately began researching it so I could inform my readers about its imminent arrival as a coating on our fresh produce. Here’s the original post:
Actually named Edipeel, but marketed under the brand name Apeel, this supposedly “plant based” preservative coating drastically extends the life of fresh produce. At least that’s the claim.
The coating is colorless and odorless and you cannot wash it off like you can the wax coating that’s sometimes applied to certain produce. Fruits and vegetables treated with Apeel are supposed to have a sticker affixed to them indicating it has been coated.
Here’s an example of an apple with one of the stickers on it.
Somehow, I find it difficult to trust that these will stay on or that those responsible will apply them in the first place. The company claims the coating is already in use in 65 countries, including the United States.
And just because you buy organic doesn’t mean you’re safe. The product is even approved for use on organic items in the United States. Is the produce in your supermarket sprayed with this perma-coating? You can use this handy tool from the company’s website to find grocery stores selling Apeel treated produce: Apeel Store Locator.
Near me (within 20 miles), the locator shows that Target stores are currently selling produce treated with Apeel. I don’t shop at Target, but may pay them a visit to take pictures and talk to the grocery department manager.
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It’s Plant-Based. How Bad Can It Be?
How bad can it be? Well, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation provides a large portion of the company’s funding. Given the events of the past few years and Bill Gates’ prominent role in all that happened, I’m slow to trust anything his foundation touches.
Apeel is marketed as “all natural” even though it contains toxic solvents like ethyl acetate and heptane. It’s registered with the EPA as a pesticide, specifically, a fungicide. This registration lists the active ingredient as 0.66 percent citric acid, but the majority of the ingredients are plant-derived fatty acids: monoglycerides and diglycerides.
The extraction process uses solvents and catalysts to derive these ingredients from grapeseed. As of this date, Apeel is still only approved as a fungicide, not a produce coating. To me, that sounds about as organic as the fake meat the d-elites are pushing.
At Gluck Farms, we grow our crops using all-organic, non-gmo inputs. Check out this lovely eggplant bloom.
The product safety information on the company’s website has special instructions for use of their coating. Quote:
“This product is intended for custom application and requires special mixing and use procedures. It should be applied by Apeel Sciences employees, or persons trained by Apeel Sciences.”
Is There Any Way to Tell the Difference?
I think it’s strange for produce to last 28 days, or more, without any signs of decay. The fact that the coating is not detectable and will not wash off also concerns me more than a little bit.
I’ve heard that the coated fruit looks absolutely perfect and that’s the way you can tell if it’s coated. But this doesn’t ring true for me. Sometimes I see fresh produce at our farmer’s market that looks absolutely perfect and I know it’s not coated with this forever product. Further, when you eat out at a restaurant, you don’t get the opportunity to inspect every bit of fresh produce used in your requested meal.
It seems to me that this chemical was not invented for the health and wellbeing of the end consumer. The primary purpose is to increase the profits of grocery stores and restaurants. Their produce will keep longer (much longer, according to the Apeel website), reducing chances it will begin to decay before they sell it or use it. I have no problem with businesses reducing waste and increasing profits, but this whole thing is shadier than Hunter Biden’s totally honest Chinese business deals.
News From the Hot Pants Farming Club
We’ve planted over 40 tomato plants this year as well as too-many-to-count cucumber, eggplant, zucchini (already harvesting these), bell peppers, jalapenos, onion, garlic, shallot, leeks, blackberries, strawberries, lemon grass, pomegranate, artichokes, and more.
Our already established fruit trees and artichokes are growing strong as well. We’ve got so many different herbs, there’s no way I could list them all. In a couple of weeks, I’ll begin harvesting the herbs to dehydrate and to make various medicinal products from them. This year, I’m also going to make soap, clothes washing soap, and shampoo to my all-natural deodorant and toothpaste line.
Finally, one of my favorite Substackers, Peregrinus, claims I exploit my husband and eye candy to increase readership hahaha. Let the exploitation begin. He’s not happy in this photo. One of my lady friends says he has, “Hot angry boy vibes.”
Our dog escaped and he had to run after her. He was none too happy, but I enjoyed snapping the photo anyway.
Good to know. And Dee Dee is right, anything BG is involved with, is a NO NO NO.
Anything Bill Gates is involved with, no thank-you. That goes for breast milk grown in a lab too, Biomilq!