People Are Freaking Out About The Wax On Apples — Here's What You Should Know

Filed 1h ago · Via HuffPost · The Buffoon Desk

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Kevin MacLeod · incompetech.com · CC BY 4.0

Photo: Alf van Beem · Public domain · via Wikimedia Commons

Social media users, inspired by figures like Robert Kennedy Jr. and assorted online influencers, have been warning that the wax coating on apples is harmful, prompting some people to avoid apples entirely or scrub and boil them before eating. Food safety experts interviewed say the wax is a quality-preservation measure, not a safety hazard, since apples naturally lose their protective bloom during washing and handling after harvest.

Producers worldwide, including in the U.S., EU, Hong Kong and New Zealand, apply food-grade wax, often derived from shellac or carnauba palm leaves, to prevent moisture loss during months of refrigerated storage. The practice dates to 1924, and the FDA considers these waxes safe to eat, with researchers noting that without edible waxes more than a third of apples would spoil before reaching stores.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.

✒ FROM THE EDITORIAL DESK

A food additive that's been on the shelf since the 1920s doesn't suddenly turn dangerous because somebody on a phone screen said so with enough confidence. People will boil a perfectly good apple into mush to avoid a coating the FDA cleared decades ago, while ignoring the actual advice sitting two paragraphs down from the scary video. Fear spreads faster than a fact sheet, and it always has.

Source: Read the original at HuffPost → Scored: Frogs Legs Rag · Kevin MacLeod · CC BY 4.0

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