List of U.S. Grocery Chains Not Using Apeel-Coated Produce (as of 2025)
from my local Whole Foods
I currently have an organic navel orange grown by Sunkist sitting on my kitchen counter that I bought in March of this year, and it looks pretty much just like the day I bought it from whole foods, literally 5 months ago. Over that time, the nutrients have presumably degraded a lot, yet it still looks just like a normal orange I could pick up from the store today.
We now have no idea of the freshness of our produce, organic or conventional. Considering that our soils have been depleted of nutrients for decades now from poor farming practices, our food is estimated to be far less nutritious than it once was. This is the reality of our food industry, and it’s getting worse. Enter Apeel.
What Even is Apeel?
Apeel is a coating that's applied to fruits and vegetables to increase shelf life by slowing down water loss and oxidation. Organipeel, which is a version of Apeel, was recently approved by the USDA for use on certified organic fruits and vegetables.
Why I Avoid Eating Apeel/Organipeel™ Coated Foods
1. The coating stays on the food
Apeel creates a water-resistant layer on the peel of produce. Shoppers and retailers who have tried to scrub it off report that most of the coating remains, so it ends up being eaten. Apeel says warm water and friction will remove it, but the debate continues (PCC Community Markets).
2. Limited safety data / Hypernovelty
Apeel’s own GRAS filings rely on a 90-day rat study, several chronic studies in rats and dogs, and 12 human trials that ran three to twelve months. There are no lifetime, multi-generation, or epidemiological studies (U.S. Food and Drug Administration). No publicly available research looks at long-term effects on our health, pollinators or soil life.
I feel like with the recent mRNA “vaccinations” that ended up being neither safe nor effective at stopping the spread of COVID-19, we shouldn’t need any reminders about the importance of long-term, placebo-controlled trials. While Apeel does seem like it could be more benign than the literal genetic therapy many of us were exposed to, we still don’t know the full ingredient list for either of these products, and similarly, they were both promoted by Bill Gates who, in my view, is best known for paralyzing thousands of African children via his oral polio vaccines and promoting the COVID-19 mRNA shots up until he sold his shares in those companies, raking in 10x profit.
Gates also has had financial ties to Apeel Sciences in the past, and through his foundation, donated around a million dollars to the startup. Apeel Sciences claims that as of a year ago, Bill Gates had no personal ownership or involvement with the company. Given that Apeel Sciences is not a public company (so their books are also not public), and Gates seems to primarily operate via his various companies and organizations, I’m not ruling out possible indirect or non-personal involvement. (This is obviously speculation, please don’t sue me.)
3. Apeel / Organipeel™ is regulated as a pesticide, and the active ingredient (citric acid) is produced with black mold 🤡
Source: EPA
Organipeel, the version used on certified-organic produce, is registered with the U.S. EPA (Reg. No. 92708-1). The master label lists 0.66 % citric acid as the active ingredient and 99.34 % “other ingredients.” (US EPA)
Roughly 99% of food-grade citric acid is not squeezed from citrus but fermented from glucose by the black-mold fungus Aspergillus niger. (PMC) Having a black mold issue in your home can make you insanely sick, but citric acid made by the same strain of mold is fine to eat? Citric acid is actually included in a crazy number of products, used as a preservative, and unless it’s labeled as having been made “from citrus” it is most likely made from black mold.
4. It makes produce look fresher than it is
Less fresh = less nutrients
By slowing water loss and oxygen exchange, the coating keeps fruit and vegetables firm and shiny for weeks or months longer than is natural. Appearances can mislead: vitamin C losses of 15 %–77 % have been documented in common vegetables after only seven days at typical refrigerator temperatures. (PMC) Consumers may eat produce that looks fine but contains fewer nutrients. I feel like most people I encounter are subclinically nutrient deficient already, so this is really concerning.
5. Most of the formula is proprietary
Because the product is registered as a pesticide, only the active ingredient appears on the public label. The remaining 99% of the formulation is kept confidential, so neither retailers nor shoppers can see a complete ingredient list. (US EPA) The FDA GRAS letter does include manufacturing specifications for the food-ingredient portion, including limits for residual solvents and heavy metals in the finished ingredient (for example, lead, palladium, and arsenic), but pesticide product labels disclose only the active ingredient and list the rest as “other ingredients.”
After researching how our food is produced for several years, I personally avoid products that are sketchy about disclosing their ingredients. Most companies are actually owned by mega-corporations and financial entities like Blackrock, Statestreet or Vanguard, which is an issue because mega-corps only are permitted to act in the best interest of their shareholders (e.g. increasing profits). Making food safer, healthier, less addicting, more nutritious, etc. are all ideas that are not really profitable, and therefore usually not a priority. It is common for companies to swap out ingredients to make a cheaper and more lucrative product at the cost of your health.
Baby food and formula is a great example of this, with nearly every brand testing positive for heavy metals and the fact that most US-produced formula is composed of ~50% “corn syrup solids” and seed oils. Just a reminder, there is no safe level of heavy metals in foods since they are cumulative. This is especially important to remember for babies and young children since their brains are still developing and heavy metal exposures can cause mental retardation, neural development and behavioral issues.
If you’re unable to breastfeed for some reason, please look into Weston A Price’s infant formula recipe and avoid buying these products.
U.S. Grocery Chains Not Using Apeel-Coated Produce (as of 2025)
Please note that this is just the info I was able to find online. Please double check with your local grocery store to confirm if this info is correct on a local level. Since these policies can change, it’s always a good idea to look up the disclosures on any food you buy from the producer’s website before consuming.
Even if your local stores do carry products treated with Apeel, you can totally have an impact by simply being a Karen and telling them why they need to change.
Trader Joe’s (Physical grocery chain) – Trader Joe’s has confirmed that it does not carry any produce coated with Apeel. The chain phased out Apeel-treated fruits and vegetables from its offerings (though no formal public policy document has been published), ensuring that shoppers will not find Apeel-coated produce in its stores.
Sprouts Farmers Market (Physical grocery chain) – Sprouts has decided not to carry produce treated with Apeel. The company internally communicated that it would stop sourcing any fruits or veggies with Apeel or its variants, aligning with its natural/organic focus. (As of 2025, Sprouts has not issued a formal public press release on this, but its buying policy excludes Apeel-coated produce.)
Natural Grocers (Physical grocery chain) – Natural Grocers has publicly announced that it does not carry any produce (or products) treated with Apeel. In an official statement, the retailer said Apeel and Organipeel coatings do not meet its product standards and are banned from all its stores. Natural Grocers, which sells only organic produce, posted signs and corporate statements to assure customers its fruits and vegetables are Apeel-free.
Publix (Physical supermarket chain) – Publix has explicitly stated it will not purchase or sell any produce treated with Apeel’s coating. According to a company communication, Publix has declined to carry Apeel-coated produce and has no plans to do so, as part of its commitment to fresh, natural products.
H-E-B (Physical supermarket chain) – H-E-B’s policy is that it does not use any Apeel-treated items in its stores or house brands. The Texas-based grocer has instructed suppliers not to send Apeel-coated produce, and it is not actively seeking any such products. (H-E-B does note it relies on supplier compliance, so while the intent is 100% Apeel-free, it cannot absolutely guarantee no Apeel-coated item ever appears. Central Market, H-E-B’s subsidiary, follows the exact same policy against Apeel coatings.
Costco (Physical wholesale club) – Costco, after previously partnering with Apeel in pilot programs, has stopped carrying produce treated with Apeel and states it has no plans to sell Apeel-coated produce in the future. Costco’s corporate produce department confirmed that items like avocados or citrus from Apeel-partner suppliers are no longer being accepted. (For example, Costco ensures the lemons it carries from Apeel partner Limoneira are not the ones treated with Apeel.
Fresh Thyme Market (Physical grocery chain) – Fresh Thyme (a Midwest-focused grocery chain) does not source any produce treated with Apeel, and it has no plans to change this policy. This stance is part of Fresh Thyme’s commitment to natural and organic offerings, meaning all fruits and vegetables in its stores are Apeel-free.
Wegmans (Physical supermarket chain) – Wegmans Food Markets has confirmed it does not source any produce that has been treated with Apeel. The regional grocer has taken a stance to keep Apeel-coated items out of its produce departments, aligning with its focus on transparency and quality for customers. Shoppers at Wegmans will not encounter Apeel-treated fruits or vegetables on the shelves.
Online-Only Grocery Retailers
Imperfect Foods (Online grocery service) – Imperfect Foods (formerly “Imperfect Produce”) has stated that none of its produce is treated with Apeel. The company confirmed it does not use Apeel on any fruits or vegetables it sells, after having briefly carried a small batch of Apeel-coated apples in the past (a practice it discontinued). All produce through Imperfect Foods is now Apeel-free by policy.
Misfits Market (Online grocery service) – Misfits Market likewise does not use or sell any produce coated with Apeel. The online grocer has explicitly confirmed that none of its fruits and veggies are treated with Apeel, assuring customers that everything in its subscription boxes is free of that coating.
Azure Standard (Online natural foods retailer) – Azure Standard, a nationwide online organic co-op and grocery supplier, does not carry any products treated with Apeel. The company has a clear policy against Apeel-coated produce, meaning it will not stock or ship fruits/vegetables with Apeel or Organipeel on them.
Final Thoughts
I hope you found this useful. Please be careful about the foods and products you bring into your home and put on your plate. Apeel may turn out to be fine, but without full ingredient disclosure and long-term, placebo-controlled studies, we don’t actually know if it’s safe. The people promoting it also have mixed records and potential conflicts of interest, which doesn’t help.
Your best bet is to avoid it where you can. Verify how your produce was sourced before you eat it, ask the store to check case labels, and stick with retailers that clearly state they don’t use Apeel/Organipeel. If you want to “stay in the control group,” be consistent about checking. Given the lack of transparency, growing your own food or buying from a local farm you know and trust is the most straightforward path to clearly produced, safer-feeling food. It also keeps money in your community and cuts the emissions tied to long supply chains.
Featured Products
Sources
United States Food and Drug Administration. “Agency Response Letter GRAS Notice No. GRN 000648.” FDA, 13 Dec. 2016. https://www.fda.gov/food/gras-notice-inventory/agency-response-letter-gras-notice-no-grn-000648.
United States Food and Drug Administration. “GRAS Notice (GRN) 648 Additional Correspondence—Supplement.” FDA, 2024. https://www.fda.gov/media/180201/download.
United States Environmental Protection Agency. Organipeel: Pesticide Product Label (EPA Reg. No. 92708-1). 7 June 2019. https://www3.epa.gov/pesticides/chem_search/ppls/092708-00001-20190607.pdf.
PCC Community Markets. “Answering Your Questions about Apeel.” Sound Consumer, Mar. 2025. https://www.pccmarkets.com/sound-consumer/2025-03/questions-about-apeel/.
Apeel Sciences. “What’s in It, Why It Works, and Why It’s Safe (FAQs).” Apeel, 2025. https://www.apeel.com/faqs.
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