Being at the forefront of innovation can make oneself an easy target for detractors, and the unfortunate complexity of how the food system works today allows for easy distortion of the truth. But defending the truth about food is critical to maintaining public trust in innovation and agriculture.

Even well-intentioned people can be misled. But it makes a big difference when they are willing to acknowledge when mistakes have been made.

Please see a message from our CEO and founders regarding the malicious disinformation campaign that has been targeting Apeel, Michelle Pfeiffer's Apology & Correction, and our Green Smoothie Girl Lawsuit press release.

No.

Bill Gates is not now, nor has he ever been, a shareholder in Apeel Sciences. Mr. Gates has never been an owner, an advisor, nor held any position within our organization.

As part of their broader philanthropic efforts to improve food security and reduce post-harvest losses in sub-Saharan Africa, where access to refrigeration and other technologies is severely limited and results in high levels of food loss and waste, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation awarded two research grants to Apeel Sciences in 2012 and 2015, totaling less than $1.1 million. To put this into broader context, the Foundation awarded over $7.3 billion in grants to a wide variety of public and private organizations during those two years across different areas and projects.

No control of our company was given up in exchange for any of that grant funding, and we have not had any ongoing relationship with the Foundation in more than a decade.

There are existing federal labeling laws for both packaged and loose fruits and vegetables to generally disclose the presence of post-harvest coatings on produce. The Apeel Reveal Act is a newly proposed bill that seeks to reinforce produce labeling.

At Apeel, we welcome more transparency in the post-harvest food industry — this has been part of our mission since day one. That’s why produce protected with our products features the Apeel logo or sticker and why we remain the only post-harvest food coating brand most consumers can name. That’s also why we’ve listed our simple, plant-based ingredients on our website.

Our coatings are safe, meet and exceed all federal standards, and give consumers a clear choice when it comes to fresher, higher quality produce that also helps cut down on food waste.

Apeel’s ingredients are not new ingredients – they are existing food ingredients, commonly and widely found in everyday foods.

Our product for conventional produce, Edipeel, is made of plant-based mono- and diglycerides.

Our product for organic produce, Organipeel,* is made of citric acid, baking soda, and plant-based mono- and diglycerides.

* NOTE: As we’re developing new products that are more tailored to organic producers’ operations and evolving needs, Organipeel has not been commercially available or used for over 2 years.

And, mono- and diglycerides are nothing more than purified, naturally occurring simple fats.

The ingredients in Apeel formulations are plant-based, responsibly sourced, non-GMO, free of regulated allergens, and free of trans fats. These ingredients are naturally found in the peels, pulp, and seeds of plants we already eat, and are common existing food ingredients that have been widely used in everyday foods in the U.S., Europe, and worldwide for decades.

Very little product is needed to create big freshness and quality benefits: we use 22 milligrams of product (the weight equivalent to less than 1/10th of a small raisin) to coat an average avocado (200 grams).

And yes, it can be washed off with warm water and a gentle scrub, either by hand or with a vegetable brush.

Our product for organic produce, Organipeel,* is made of citric acid, baking soda, and plant-based mono- and diglycerides.

Apeel’s approval for Organipeel was originally granted nearly 8 years ago to support organic producers and their mission of pursuing more sustainable agricultural practices.

As we’re developing new products that are more tailored to organic producers’ operations and evolving needs, Organipeel has not been commercially available or used for nearly 2 years.

In general, you might find it helpful to know that “USDA Organic” produce does not mean that no products or treatments are used during any stage of the production or post-harvest handling of the produce (and that includes “100% Certified Organic Produce”). There are several USDA Organic certified and OMRI listed products and treatments that are permitted beyond Organipeel – because organic producers need tools and technologies, too!

The Organipeel product label looks the way it does to comply with regulated labeling laws. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) mandates that the active ingredient, in this case, citric acid, be named explicitly on the product label, and the remaining inert ingredients (baking soda and plant-based mono- and diglycerides) be listed under “other ingredients”.

No secrets here! To prioritize transparency and go beyond current product labeling laws, Organipeel’s ingredients are clearly listed here and on other sections of our website.

Because the product works to inhibit mold on fresh produce – even though the ingredients are all food ingredients.

Yes.

Our ingredients are recognizable common food ingredients: plant-based mono- and diglycerides in Edipeel, as well as citric acid and baking soda in Organipeel (a product we discontinued nearly 2 years ago).

These are common existing food ingredients that have been approved by regulatory agencies and widely used in everyday foods in the U.S., Europe, and worldwide for decades.

Apeel is simply using these existing food ingredients in a new way – applying them on the surface of fresh fruits and vegetables to reinforce the existing natural peel and help produce better retain moisture and reduce oxidation to keep produce fresher with peak flavor, juiciness, and nutrients for longer.

While you might be familiar with citric acid and baking soda, here’s a bit more information about mono- and diglycerides:

Mono- and diglycerides are naturally occurring components of dietary fats (triglycerides) (i.e., the fats or oils that are in meats, cheeses, butter, nuts, seeds, nut butters, cooking oils, salad dressings, and more). When our bodies digest triglycerides, they are broken down into diglycerides and monoglycerides as part of normal metabolism so that we can use the fatty acids for energy and more.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) affirms mono- and diglycerides as Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS). This GRAS designation means that a panel of qualified experts considers mono- and diglycerides safe for consumption under the conditions of their intended use, including their application to fruits and vegetables as well as use in many other everyday foods.

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) recently re-evaluated the safety of mono- and diglycerides and found no safety concerns, and mono- and diglycerides continue to be allowed by the European Commission for use in many different food categories in the European Union, including fresh produce.

Examples of other food categories where you can commonly find mono- and diglycerides include (but are not limited to): infant formula, pastas, tortillas, and more.

Independent consumer advocacy groups also support the safety of mono- and diglycerides:

The Center for Science in the Public Interest which spearheaded the ban on trans fats in foods, rates mono- and diglycerides as “safe” in their database.

Additionally, the Environmental Working Group, which publishes their own consumer chemical safety guides, has not identified any concerns with mono- and diglycerides.

This false claim is what started the disinformation campaign against Apeel in 2023. It wrongly linked our product to an industrial cleaning solution (also named “Apeel”) made by a completely different company in the UK. Our product is not a cleaning agent. The claim is entirely false and has been publicly debunked by many trusted news outlets.

Apeel is currently available for conventionally grown avocados, lemons, limes, oranges, mandarins, and grapefruits – categories where the peel isn’t normally eaten.

Very little product is needed to create big freshness and quality benefits: we use 22 milligrams of product (the weight equivalent to less than 1/10th of a small raisin) to coat an average avocado (200 grams).

And yes, it can be washed off with warm water and a gentle scrub, either by hand or with a vegetable brush.

In general, it’s good practice to wash any fresh produce before eating. For helpful tips, check out this resource from the University of Minnesota.

You may come across older information saying our coating can’t be washed off. At the time, we hadn’t yet done the testing to confirm the ability to remove the coating and described it differently. We’ve since completed those tests, and they show the coating can be removed with warm water and gentle rubbing.

Traditional waxes (made from polyethylene, paraffins, shellac, carnauba wax, beeswax, and other ingredients) have been widely used for decades, mainly for the purposes of adding shine in response to supermarket and consumer preferences for glossy, attractive produce.

Some of these industry standard ingredients are animal-based (e.g., beeswax and shellac) or petroleum-derived (e.g., polyethylene, paraffins, etc.).

And the extra sad part is they aren’t very effective at helping produce stay fresher for much longer.

We believe we all deserve better. That’s why we use food to actually protect food – plant-based fatty acid ingredients in our products today that reinforce the existing natural peel to help reduce moisture loss and oxidation, that are found in the peels, pulp, and seeds of plants we already eat, and that the body normally metabolizes just as it does with regular dietary fats and oils.

A wide array of designer post-harvest pesticides (fungicides) are also used on produce today. Organic produce is treated with pesticides, too. We’re developing a new generation of plant-based products that use food ingredients to reduce reliance on harsh pesticides to keep produce naturally fresher for longer and reduce our collective exposure to harmful chemicals.

We’re keeping the good stuff in and the bad stuff out!

Labeling laws in the U.S. requiring disclosure of post-harvest coatings on fresh produce – whether Apeel or other companies’ products – fortunately already exist (and have since 1977!).

Here’s a quick summary of the laws: when produce is sold in packaged form, the labels must state that a wax (coating) has been applied. When received in bulk (loose) by the retailer / seller, it is the retailer's responsibility to disclose the presence of a wax / coating with the labeling of the bulk container plainly in view or with a counter card bearing the required information.

From the very beginning, Apeel has favored greater transparency in the U.S. food system, and we’ve pushed the industry to go above and beyond what the current laws require to share more information with consumers. That’s why you’ve seen produce in stores and photos online with the Apeel logo or sticker.

A variety of waxes and coatings made by other companies have been widely used on produce for decades. How many other waxes, coatings, or post-harvest treatments can you list by manufacturer or product name?

No.

You might come across old GRAS documents online that we publicly submitted to the U.S. FDA about how we used to make our ingredients via R&D processes as part of our early product development work. While the FDA had no concerns with what we presented, those R&D formulations and processes were never used commercially, and do not represent the current manufacturing process, which excludes the use of solvents.

Heat and vacuum are used to purify the ingredients.