Guest post by Krysten from Krysten’s Kitchen.

You can’t even trust buying organic produce anymore, thanks to The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Katy Perry and Oprah. There’s a new label on your produce, and it’s anything but ap”peel”ing. Apeel is a “plant-based protection that helps the produce you love stay fresh for longer”… or, in other words, a chemical coating put on your produce which you can’t wash off so it doesn’t brown or decompose in a normal amount of time.

Exactly how old is that avocado?

Unfortunately, if you think by choosing organic you’re good to go… think again. On their website they state, “We have formulations that are OMRI Listed® for the growers and distributors of USDA Certified Organic produce.”

They say that it helps reduce plastic, which might be true, but what exactly is this coating made of? They state on their FAQs that there is only one ingredient, but then go on to say that it’s only composed of food-grade (multiple) ingredients made from “plant materials”.

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Apeel brags about its purified mono- and diglycerides, food ingredients that are found in a variety of foods. According to Dr. Josh Axe, mono- and diglycerides are “the go-to replacement for deadly trans fats and a food industry staple that helps keep oil and fat from separating. (Vani) Hari (The Food Babe) explains that this additive is a byproduct of oil processing, including partially hydrogenated canola and soybean oils. This additive is a byproduct of oil processing which contains artificial trans fat – a danger food ingredient known to cause coronary heart disease and linked to 50,000 fatal heart attacks a year.”

(Side note: The FDA finally determined that trans fats are no longer generally recognized as safe for food use in 2016 and yet mono- and diglycerides are the “the go-to replacement.” But they change the label from trans fats to mono- and diglycerides and then the FDA changes their tune. Interesting or predictable?)

If you’re thinking that you’ll just wash it off, well, I hate to break it you, but you can’t. In their FAQs they essentially say that you can try but won’t succeed. “You could likely remove some of Apeel with water and scrubbing, but it’s unlikely that you’d be able to remove all of it without damaging the fruit or vegetable. Apeel forms a barrier of edible material on the skin or peel, and it wouldn’t maintain the fruit’s natural freshness if it was easily removed.”

Lovely.

When asked if Apeel is a chemical, Jenny Du, the co-founder states, “Well, everything is in fact a chemical”… way to skirt the question there, Jenny! She goes on to say, “We’re all part of ‘star-stuff’… which are elements that surround us to form chemicals…” blah blah blah skirt skirt skirt.

But also, speaking of chemicals, if this mono- and diglycerides are plant derived, I’d like to know what plant they’re derived from AND what that plant was treated with. What chemicals, pesticides and more were used on that plant? They wont tell us because, remember, Jenny Du says that, “everything is a chemical.” (I wish you could see how many times I’ve rolled my eyes already while writing and researching this!)

Watch Jenny’s video below and more importantly check the comments section.

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“It’s safe,” says the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the World Health Organization (WHO) and Health Canada… so safe that it’s in products designed for even infants and the elderly, the world’s most sensitive people.

“Specifically, mono- and diglycerides can be found in products such as Similac Pro- Advance® Infant Formula and Ensure® Enlive® Advanced Therapeutic Nutrition.” Both contain corn oil, canola oil, sugar, corn syrup and nothing that I’d ever touch or deem healthy and safe for anyone of any age, especially the oldest and the youngest people in the world.

You may be seeing the Apeel sticker or label on your produce, but there are also other brands using this coating on their produce. Thankfully (PHEW!) some brands are bragging about it because it helps the produce last longer and they’re saving tons of plastic. I’d rather have the plastic than the crappy coating on my cucumbers, apples and lemons, thank you.

Exactly how old is that apple in your fridge? You’ll never know. As time goes on, produce loses nutritional value, but you won’t be able to tell how fresh it is because of the Apeel coating being used. This is misleading, dishonest and doing you a (nutritional) disservice.

Your avocado might look like it was picked yesterday from a nearby farm, but it could be 31 days old. Check out this photo below and see what an normal, real, not-messed-with-by-Apeel avocado would look like after 31 days and then look at what the “tainted” (treated with Apeel) avocado looks like.

It looks good right? Yes! But it’s modified! Produce loses 30% (conservatively) of it’s nutrients just 3 days after being harvested due to light, oxygen and heat.

You will find Apeel products in places like Costco, Trader Joe’s, Gelson’s, Ralphs, Sprouts, Vons, Walmart, Whole Foods, Kroger, Harps Foods, Wakefern brand stores including Price Right, Fairway Market, Target, Bristol Farms and more. Some of the produce companies using Apeel are Topline, Index Fresh, Calve, Del Monte, West Park, Horton Fruit Co, Del Ray Avocado, Natures Pride and more.

In our home, we are very intentional about the foods that we eat and use from foods to products. We avoid seed oils, artificial food coloring, high fructose corn syrup, fast food, refined sugars, bleached flours, fragrances, cheap made-in-China toys, AirPods, plastics, flame retardants, PFAs and the list go on and on and on… which will now include Apeel, aka, mono- and diglycerides.

Once again, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the same people who are buying up all the farmland in the country and trying to sell you on the idea of lab-grown meats saying, “I do think all rich countries should move to 100% synthetic beef,” are behind this and that means it’s a no from me, dawg.