Apeel, the not sexy coating
Grocery & Produce Brand Policies on Apeel
Grateful to My Health Forward Blog for this information
As of 11/1/23, the following list accurately reflects the disclosures and policies of growers and grocery retailers on selling produce treated with Apeel's Edipeel or Organipeel food coatings.
https://myhealthforward.com/blogs/my-health-forward-blog/apeel
https://muneezaahmed.com/toxic-foods-alert-apeel-coating-technology/
https://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/is-apeel-appealing/
Natural Grocers: Natural Grocers issued a public corporate statement saying they do not carry any produce or items that have been treated with Apeel's food coatings.
Sprouts Farmers Markets: Sprouts recently made a decision to not carry any produce that's treated with Apeel. They annnounced this internally to employees, but have not made a public statement or policy yet.
Costco: Costco partnered with Apeel as far back as 2018 but recently stopped carrying any produce treated with Apeel. Their corporate produce department said they have no plans to ever sell produce treated with Apeel again. The Limoneira lemons they carry are not treated with Apeel.
Publix: Publix will not purchase any produce that's been treated with Apeel's food coatings.
H-E-B: H-E-B does not use any items treated with Apeel in the products they manufacture. They are not actively seeking out or requesting items treated with Apeel. The responsibility ultimately falls on their suppliers to adhere to their requests.
Whole Foods: Whole Foods would not give a clear or straightforward answer on if they source produce treated with Apeel. I spoke to three produce departments, three customer service representatives, and three corporate offices. One corporate office said Apeel's Edipeel and Organipeel food coatings meet Whole Food's safety standards. I went and looked at the produce and could not find any items treated with Apeel.
Trader Joes: Trader Joes no longer sources any produce treated with Apeel's food coatings. They have not released a public statement or policy. I requested that they do this.
Jimbo's: The San Diego Organic Grocery chain publicly states that they do not carry or accept any produce treated with Apeel.
ALDI: Aldi does not have a policy on Apeel and no employees are able to speak on it. They source produce from brands (West Pak & Limoneira) that use Apeel, but it is not clear whether the items they carry are treated with Apeel's coatings.
Bragg: Bragg does not source any apples that have been treated with organipeel or edipeel. Bragg makes it clear that none of their apples are treated with other waxes or coatings either.
West Pak: West Pak increased their capacity for treating avocados with Apeel's food coatings. They do not disclose which retailers carry avocados that have and have not been treated.
Limoneira: Limoneira is the first lemon producer to partner with Apeel. They will apply Edipeel on conventional lemons and Organipeel on organic lemons. They plan to coat 5 million cartons worth of lemons this year. Their financial guidelines outline their fiscal year estimates to sell 5-5.4 million cartons of lemons, indicating that all of their lemons will be coated with Apeel.
Stemilt Apples: Stemilt previously used Organipeel on all of their organic apples. Their communications team informed me that they no longer use Apeel on any of their apples.
Calavo Avocados: Calavo offers a small number of organic and conventional avocados treated with Apeel's coatings, which only amounts to a truck-full a week. They do not send Apeel treated avocados to Whole Foods
Apeel is a very clever marketing name. As a punster, I wish I had thought of it, but the pun aspect is the ONLY thing I find appealing about it.
Super helpful: so relieved to learn this about Trader Joe's and Costco.