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aPEEL Technology - What is it?

  • Writer: Ashley Mooney
    Ashley Mooney
  • Mar 15, 2024
  • 2 min read


aPEEL Explained

aPEEL Technology is a coating applied to produce to protect the fruit / Vegetable from oxidation. This coating is a mixture of monoacylglycerides derived from grape seed oil.


What Produce uses aPEEL Technology

  • Apples

  • Avocados

  • Bananas

  • Cucumbers

  • Grapefruits

  • Grapes

  • Green Beans

  • Lemons

  • Limes

  • Mandarins

  • Mangos

  • Oranges

  • Papayas

  • Pineapples

  • Pomegranates

  • Strawberries


What Countries allow aPEEL Technology

NO Restrictions:

  • USA, Canada, Chile, China, Columbia, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Peru & South Africa

SOME Restrictions:

Restricted to the following crops (Avocados, Citrus Fruits, Mangos, Papayas , Bananas, Pineapples, Pomegranates & Melons)

  • European Union, Norway, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.


Manufacturing Process


Safety Data

According to aPEEL Sciences, all tests were done with a diacylglycerol oil percentage 2-to 10-fold higher than the monoacylglycerides intake of 218 mg/person/day from its intended uses proposed by aPEEL Sciences. These tests suggested the edible coating for fruits and vegetables is unlikely to cause adverse effects following human consumption.


Conclusion

If you are wondering why local produce goes bad in a few days, where as in-store produce can remain stable for weeks, this is most likely the case. By combining the two monoglycerides to bond together and create a diacylglycerol oil to coat a variety of produce, this keeps the moisture in, and oxygen out.


  • aPEEL was approved in 2016 for use, but it is unclear of any long term side effects because of it being such a new technology with minimal testing.

  • aPEEL Sciences received a $985,161 grant from the Bill Gates foundation in August 2015.

  • The exact formulation of the 99.34% is not openly disclosed to the public. The full formulation is considered a trade secret.

  • There is a lack of USDA oversight

  • The FDA markets the product as a "Coating" here: https://www.fda.gov/food/gras-notice-inventory/agency-response-letter-gras-notice-no-grn-000648 On the contrary OMRI (Organic Materials Review Institute) labels all aPEEL Sciences approved products as a "Fungicide" here: https://www.omri.org/mfg/ape

  • The interchangeability of the terms "coating" and "fungicide" leads to a source of confusion, the USDA must eliminate this ambiguity to determine whether aPEEL must also seek approval for Organipeel as a "Costing for use in further processing" in order to be compliant.




 
 
 

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