No, heavy metals are not used to make Apeel produce coating | Fact check
The claim: Apeel is a ‘heavy metal poisoning operation’
A June 1 video shared on Rumble shows a woman talking about the supposed dangers of Apeel, a produce coating product. The video is titled “Apeel, Toxic Metals and Heavy Metal Poisoning in Food.”
“You’ll understand this is essentially a heavy metal poisoning operation,” Jane Ruby, a conservative podcaster, says in the video before making a series of assertions about Apeel produce coating.
The video was shared more than 300 times on Facebook.
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Our rating: False
The levels of heavy metals found in Apeel are below the maximum limits established by the Food and Drug Administration. Heavy metals are not used to make the product, but the company says the plants from which commercial suppliers derive the coating’s ingredients can absorb them from the environment.
Heavy metals from environmental sources common in food
The claim implies Apeel is either recklessly or intentionally putting heavy metals in its produce coating, which is used to slow the spoiling of fruits and vegetables. But heavy metals are not part of the manufacturing process.
Apeel’s produce coating is edible and uses plant-derived monoglycerides and diglycerides, agents that keep oils and water from separating. The video claims there is no evidence the product is safe, but both monoglycerides and diglycerides are "generally recognized as safe" by the FDA.
Jenny Du, the company’s co-founder, said it is possible trace amounts of heavy metals could end up in the Apeel coating because heavy metals are present in the environment and plants can absorb them through exposure in the soil, air and water. The company monitors the components to make sure they are within federal limits established by the FDA.
The chances of absorption from the environment are well-known among regulators and researchers. The FDA has a working group dedicated to reducing the environmental exposure of crops to heavy metals. Michigan State University researchers state that even non-GMO and organic produce could contain heavy metals because of the amounts in the environment.
“Heavy metals are everywhere,” Du said. “This is gathering attention because they are being measured and published.”
Major U.S. grocery stores are using the coating on apples, avocados and limes, according to Apeel.
Fact check: Post confuses Apeel produce coating with cleaning solution
The claim also references FDA documents that describe a method involving grapeseed oil that Apeel used in the past to independently manufacture the monoglycerides and diglycerides needed for the coating. The company eventually switched to purchasing the ingredients from large manufacturers beginning in 2019, according to Du.
Du declined to give specifics of the formulation Apeel uses now but confirmed it does not contain grapeseed oil, as claimed in the Rumble video. She also declined to identify the company’s suppliers of monoglycerides and diglycerides, but typical industry practices do not involve the process described in the video.
The Rumble video also claims that Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is involved with Apeel. But this overstates the truth. While Apeel received grants from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in 2012 and 2015, the company says neither the foundation nor Bill Gates are active investors.
Paste BN previously debunked a viral claim that Apeel produce coating can cause eye injuries and allergic skin reactions.
Ruby did not provide any evidence to back up her claim when contacted by Paste BN.
Our fact-check sources:
- Jenny Du, July 7, Phone interview with Paste BN
- Apeel, accessed July 10, Apeel Product Safety
- FDA, June 7, CFR - Code of Federal Regulations Title 21
- FDA, Jan. 24, Environmental Contaminants in Food
- Michigan State University Center for Research on Food Ingredient Safety, Jan. 23, In the news – Heavy Metals in Food
- Experientia supplementum, 2012, Heavy Metals Toxicity and the Environment
- ScienceDirect, accessed July 7, Mono- And Diglycerides of Fatty Acids - an overview
- Emulsifiers in Food Technology, Oct. 24, 2014, Mono- and Diglycerides
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