Fruit and vegetable coatings on grocery-store produce in the spotlight: 'Know what we're eating'

Transparency is the focus of new proposed legislation when it comes to the coatings that are added to produce before the grocery-store items are sold to Americans. 

Focusing on fruits and vegetables treated with a shelf-life-extending coating, Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-Ind., introduced HR 4737, known as the Apeel Reveal Act, in the House. 

The bill targets product coatings from companies to provide labeling that discloses the use of the coating.

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"We should know what we're eating - transparency is essential for making healthy choices," Stutzman wrote on X.

"My Apeel Reveal Act gives Americans the clarity they deserve when deciding what to feed themselves and their kids."

Apeel Sciences, an industry leader in the space, said it agrees with Stutzman that "every consumer deserves to know where they can find safer, higher-quality, fresher produce in their grocery stores."

"Our plant-based, edible coatings help keep produce naturally fresh for longer, reduce food waste and lower grocery costs for American families," Apeel said in a statement shared with Fox News Digital. 

"Our products are among the safest and most rigorously tested on the market."

Apeel said its ingredients are "plant-based simple fats called mono- and diglycerides, baking soda and citric acid" and "common, naturally occurring food ingredients found in the edible peels, pulp and seeds of fruits and vegetables that also have a long history of safe use."

Apeel reiterated that its products have an Apeel logo or sticker.

They "remain the only post-harvest food coating brand most consumers can name," the California-based company said. 

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All coating materials must be composed of substances "Generally Recognized as Safe" (GRAS). 

They must be produced under the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Good Manufacturing Practices for food ingredients and packaging.

The company says on its site, "The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) affirms mono- and diglycerides as Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS). This GRAS designation means that a panel of qualified experts considers mono- and diglycerides safe for consumption under the conditions of their intended use, including their application to fruits and vegetables as well as use in many other everyday foods."

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The purpose of the new bill is "to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to require the disclosure of certain product coatings used on fruits and vegetables, and for other purposes," HR 4737 says.

It also says, in part, "In this subsection, the term 'covered product coating' means a coating that is directly applied to a fruit or vegetable to extend the shelf life of the fruit or vegetable. Such term includes Apeel Sciences product coatings, including Edipeel and Organipeel."

Apeel's coatings, according to the company and others, have "demonstrably reduced waste - saving 166 million pieces of produce, conserving 1.8 billion gallons of water, and preventing over 64 million pounds of greenhouse gas emissions."