Facebook posts confuse ‘Apeel’ fruit and vegetable preservative with hard surface cleaner

Posts on Facebook and Twitter claiming that a new type of protective coating designed to keep fruits and vegetables fresh is harmful to human health have collectively been shared thousands of times. 

The concerns on social media surround a product called Edipeel, manufactured by a company called Apeel Sciences, which is described as a plant-based coating providing “a little extra peel on produce to slow the rate of water loss and oxidation—the primary causes of spoilage.” The creators of the product, based in California, claim the peel is “completely edible, tasteless, and safe to eat” and that it can help produce stay fresh for twice the amount of time as produce without the coating. 

In 2021, Asda became the first UK retailer to trial selling fruit treated with Apeel’s Edipeel, with Tesco beginning to trial the product in 2022. 

However, many recent posts on social media, such as this post with more than 200 shares, claim: “The safety data sheet [for Apeel] says: “APEEL Hazard statements 318 Cause serious eye damage. 

“H317 May cause an allergic skin reaction. H412 Harmful to aquatic life with long-lasting effects.” 

Lots of other posts we’ve seen online also share this safety information in relation to Apeel.

But these aren’t the safety warnings for the Apeel product described in the posts.

Social media posts confuse two different products 

These safety warnings are for a completely different product—a hard surface cleaner, also called Apeel, produced by UK company Evans Vanodine. 

Evans Vanodine has now added a note to its page on the surface cleaner, which says: “EVANS APEEL HAS NO RELATION TO APEEL SCIENCES AND SHOULD NOT BE USED TO PRESERVE FRUITS AND VEGETABLES.” 

In a product information sheet produced for the UK market, Apeel Sciences says Edipeel “is fully compliant with United Kingdom food law”. 

The company adds: “Edipeel is a food additive approved for use [...] as a glazing agent for citrus fruit, melons, pineapples, bananas, papayas, mangoes, avocados, and pomegranates at levels of quantum satis.” 

“Quantum satis” means no maximum level for additives in the product needs to be set on safety grounds. It should instead be used “in accordance with good manufacturing practice”—meaning it mustn’t be used at a higher level than necessary to achieve the intended purpose.

Apeel Sciences has received funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Many of the posts on social media also claim that Edipeel has been funded by entrepreneur and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and supported by the World Economic Forum (WEF). 

For example, one post says: “I checked the company out it's funded by Bill Gates and others and the WEF indorses [sic] it.” 

Both of these claims are true. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation committed almost $1m (around £789,000) in grant funds to Apeel Sciences in 2015, and it has also been financially backed by high-profile celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey and Katy Perry. 

Apeel Sciences was named as a WEF World Technology Pioneer in 2018 and James Rogers, the CEO of Apeel Sciences, was named one of the WEF’s Young Global Leaders in 2020. Articles written by him have been featured on the forum’s website and also previously attended the WEF’s annual Davos summit. 

Bill Gates and the WEF are often the subjects of false claims and conspiracy theories, many of which we have written about before.