A social media post shared a photo of a food item with an Apeel label whose post description reads, ‘ DO NOT EAT ANYTHING WITH THIS LABEL!! This is a Bill Gates-founded company using toxic mono & diglycerides to make you SICK! ‘Let’s fact-check this post’s claim through this article.
Claim: Consuming food items containing the label of Apeel will cause sickness as they have toxic mono and diglycerides.
Fact: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recognises mono and diglycerides, the ingredients of Apeel’s Edipeel, as food substances generally recognised as safe. Hence, the claim made in the post is False.
Apeel Sciences manufactures a post-harvest coating named Edipeel. Edipeel’s primary ingredients are the food additives of mono- and diglycerides. According to Apeel Sciences, Edipeel forms a thin, edible physical barrier against moisture loss and oxidation when applied to the surfaces of certain fruits and vegetables, which extends the shelf life of these fruits and vegetables.
Mono- and diglycerides fall under the GRAS (Generally Recognised As Safe) classification of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Apeel also mentions the same on their website. A WHO report states,’ No harmful effects have been specifically associated with mono- or diglycerides. ‘ The Centre for Science in the Public Interest gave a ‘safe’ rating to Mono- and diglycerides. This evidence contradicts the viral claim that these compounds cause sickness.
Apeel Sciences also sent a notice to the FDA about the use of Mono- and diglycerides, to which they responded by saying that they have no question that these compounds come under GRAS classified.
The viral post also claims that Bill Gates owns Apeel, which is refuted by a spokesperson of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMFG). Apeel received a grant from BMGF in 2012 and 2015. Still, according to Lauren Sweeney, vice president of marketing operations and commercial strategy at Apeel Sciences, BMGF is not an active investor anymore. James Rogers is the Founder and CEO of Apeel Sciences.
To sum up, the contents of Apeel coating are deemed safe by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
