Does Whole Foods Use Apeel, the Protective Coating Used To Preserve Produce?

The idea behind the produce preservative known as Apeel is noble — adding extra life to precious produce before it spoils, thereby reaching underserved communities and infusing them with fresh produce, though in practice, some people are rightfully concerned about consuming fruits and veggies with a chemical coating.

Many shoppers at various grocery stores understandably wish to know, then, if the produce at their favorite stores, like Whole Foods, utilizes Apeel on their produce.

It is an understandable concern to have, and if you have qualms about consuming produce that features a preservative coating, you are certainly not alone. Below, we explore whether or not Whole Foods utilizes the Apeel produce preservative and if they are transparent with consumers in their practices.

Keep reading below to learn more about Apeel and whether or not Whole Foods has used it in the past, if they currently use it, and if you should continue supporting Whole Foods produce.

The answer is as unclear as it is frustrating. According to My Health Forward, "Whole Foods says that their global produce purchasing team does not buy items treated with Apeel. However, they could not confirm with regional and local purchasing teams."

Sadly, this means that in a general sense, the brand does not seem to support Apeel's plant-based protective coating — even though the company absolutely uses wax derived from animals, as well as other scary synthetic sources.

According to a My Health Forward TikTok video, "Whole Foods would not give me a straightforward or honest answer as to whether they sell produce treated with Apeel, and left me with more questions than answers."

"Whole Foods is not being open about that," says another TikTok user, who pledges to stop shopping at Whole Foods because they aren't being transparent with customers who often spend exorbitant prices on their groceries.

So, you may be wondering, what produce preservatives is Whole Foods transparent about using? As seen in Harrison Ryan Cohen's TikTok video above, they utilize insect-based coatings, including lac resin and beeswax.

Whole Foods also utilizes immensely concerning synthetic sources to coat their produce, such as polyethylene, naphtha, paraffin, and mineral oil.

In July 2024, the Instagram account Divine Harmony noted that "When everybody was actively mad, [Whole Foods] said they weren’t [using Apeel]. But now that people have forgotten about it," Whole Foods appears to have changed their tune as consumer focus is split on multiple issues.

"Whole Foods currently does not purchase products with Apeel, but if boxes of produce that come in have Apeel, it will say on the box," the post reads. "The produce is not displayed in the box [that] is put out by the team, so the consumer will have to ask a Whole Foods produce person to check the box to see if it is Apeel or not. There will be no stickers or obvious signage about a product having Apeel or not."