Apeel, A New Produce Coating, Uses Lipid Nanoparticles

Apeel is a thin coating applied to fruits and vegetables (and possibly seeds, cereal grains) to keep them from spoiling (or ripening, depending on your perspective). Its purpose is to increase shelf-life (or maybe just visual appeal. I haven’t seen data yet on its ability to maintain nutrient content).

Apeel is colorless, odorless, and tasteless. According to Apeel’s website, “Apeel is made of purified mono- and diglycerides,” which are types of lipids. The lipid coating is manufactured into “an ultra-thin barrier that can be measured on the order of nanometers.”

It’s not easy to wash Apeel off so you end up eating it. What are you eating? Only the makers of Apeel know, 99% of the ingredients are proprietary.

There used to be two types:

The Apeel company produces two products — Edipeel for use in conventional food and Organipeel for use in organics — but it is moving away from that distinction in its marketing, instead using only its brand name, “Apeel.”

That didn’t say that Organipeel is itself organic, but that it can be used in organics.

The process they use to extract lipids from food scraps leaves residues of ethyl acetate, heptane, palladium, arsenic, lead, cadmium, and mercury. If you eat a lot of fruits and vegetables you’ll be eating more of those residues. How much is in a jar of jam where every raspberry has been coated with Apeel?

I think, for the consumer, there’s still a lot to learn. One thing you can say for sure is that Apeel is not natural; you’re not apt to find purified lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) in nature. (LNPs seem to be having their day. COVID-19 mRNA vaccines use lipid nanoparticles as a delivery vehicle. Here’s a patent for use of lipid nanoparticles as food coatings.)

Lipid nanoparticles can be constructed to traverse cell membranes with ease (passive diffusion). That’s why they make good delivery vehicles for drugs or vaccines. But what’s the effect on the human body when we consume them? Can they pass across the membranes of cells lining our intestines? Is there an effect once they are inside cells?

With and without Apeel: