Wax

[ShantiDass]

Does anyone know if organic produce is also waxed? I saw clementine's at Costco (not organic) that stated they use beeswax and/or shelac (not sure which term they used but it's from a beetle. YUCK!). I buy most of my produce from a local organic farmers market and they are not waxed but was wondering about buying organic in stores. It seems that so much more wax is being used and I'm not sure how to avoid it in stores.

[Veganforlife]

I don't think so, it wouldn't be organic then if it did. Ask the store. They should be able to find out for you.

[Ilse W.]

According to the National Organic Standard, only beeswax and shellac are allowed. Both are natural substances and do not harm us (so they say). I would still wash all produce before consumption. Bug parts in food is nothing new, and I much prefer it to the tens of thousands synthetic poisons our chemical industry has blessed the conventional food supply with over the last hundred or so years.

[ShantiDass]

YUCK! Shellac is the shell of the lac beetle. They are crushing up bugs to coat our food with it and the beeswax thing is not ok either. I've only been buying food that is not shiny and does not appear to have a coating on it. I guess I will have to stick with the farmers market. Is nothing safe these days??

[coco]

oh, nice. all of a sudden it's a non-vegan vegetable. beeswax or shelac, neither of them qualify as vegan for me. or as Food for that matter! what's wrong with those people?

[lane]

almost all organic apples have wax, and i've found the only way to take it off is to scrape with a very sharp knife (i use ceramic- it's the only one in my "knife collection" that will take anything off.) sprays that claim to take off wax are such a waste! it's a little inconvenient and time consuming, but scraping gets the majority of the wax off.

[rawstrength]

Fresh, local food doesn't have wax.
If you're that concerned, grow your own food and/or shop exclusively at farmer's markets.
This is an imperfect world :) . Just do the best you can.

[juliebove]

Does anyone know if organic produce is also waxed? I saw clementine's at Costco (not organic) that stated they use beeswax and/or shelac (not sure which term they used but it's from a beetle. YUCK!). I buy most of my produce from a local organic farmers market and they are not waxed but was wondering about buying organic in stores. It seems that so much more wax is being used and I'm not sure how to avoid it in stores.

I bought the Clementines and they do say they contain wax. However, we don't eat the peels here so it's not a problem. If I were going to eat the peels, I would get some without wax.

[ShantiDass]

I don't eat the peels either but to me it's like someone making beef stew and then tells me to just take the meat out and eat it since I don't eat meat. When I cut into something with that nasty wax on it, it will go into the food and I don't want to eat it at all. Why can't they leave our food alone?

[juliebove]

I don't eat the peels either but to me it's like someone making beef stew and then tells me to just take the meat out and eat it since I don't eat meat. When I cut into something with that nasty wax on it, it will go into the food and I don't want to eat it at all. Why can't they leave our food alone?


I'm not eating the Clementines. My husband is. And he doesn't cut into them. He peels them. They put wax and things like that on the produce for several reasons. One to make it look better. And two to keep it fresh for longer. Not saying it's a good thing, but that's why.

[Vaclare79]

That's so disgusting. I wished they'd just stop spraying the food with stuff. I have peeled my stuff ever since learning about beetle juice and wax on food. :eek: