Costco VP of Produce Tells Me About Use of Apeel

You may be aware that I’ve been investigating the use of Apeel, a preservative coating being sprayed on produce. The preservative company, Apeel Sciences, has investors such as Katy Perry, Oprah Winfrey and of course, Bill Gates behind it. After many efforts, I finally got a call back from Bob Huskey, who is Vice President at Costco, and over Produce for the whole company. He said that in 2018, they did have a contract with Apeel and sold organic limes, avocados and apples sprayed with this toxic coating, that I have reported before contains 5 heavy metals and 2 petrochemical solvents.

The ingredients on the Apeel or Edipeel product discloses that there is some tiny amount of citric acid in the product, but that over 99% of the product is “other ingredients,” and those other ingredients are not listed. Mr. Huskey said that as recently as this Spring, and starting in 2018, Costco carried some apples, limes and avocados sprayed with Apeel but that there are currently no produce items being sold at Costco with the preservative coating.

What Costco Has to Say About Apeel

He said that he hasn’t even heard any conversations about Apeel in quite some time, and so the company has no near-term plans to sell products sprayed with Apeel, which you are probably aware, doesn’t wash off.

He assured me that Costco is aware of consumer sentiment about this product, and that warehouse managers and customer support personnel have been given a statement about it, though it may not be widely disseminated, because those I had spoken to before getting a call back from Mr. Huskey had no idea what Apeel even is.

So I actually think it would be really useful for you to go on the Costco website, click on Warehouse, and choose your Costco location to submit feedback to. You can also write Bob Huskey with this email address: BHuskey@costco.com

The Apeel Coating is Costly, it's Not Free

I asked him WHY Costco was not currently planning to sell products sprayed with Apeel or Edipeel, and he said it’s because Costco sells its produce very quickly, and they aren’t particularly interested in adding cost for a preservative that they really don’t need. He pointed out to me that the produce sprayed with that coating also costs more. “It’s not free,” he said. Honestly I’ve always wondered why Costco’s produce almost always looks so good, and I really hope that it’s because they have efficient supply chains and move product quickly. But it makes me wonder.

Even though Bob Huskey is now well aware EXACTLY what our concerns are, I still think consumers should write the company and tell them that your family depends on them for nutritious produce and that you would like them to provide it to you without toxic, synthetic coatings to make it last longer, especially when you’re paying extra, for organic produce! Please go to Costco.com, and click on the warehouse nearest you, and submit feedback, so that they know of your concerns. You can also call 800-774-2678 to talk to someone at Costco about your concerns about Apeel.

What I told them is, hey I spent years getting well after some toxic exposures, and I’m careful about what I eat, and I need YOUR produce to not put the toxins back in me that I really did a lot of work to get OUT of me. And you probably also shop somewhere else, so make sure to contact the produce manager, at every store you shop at, and tell them you need to see an Apeel label on any product they may sell with that coating on it. And tell them you would really like to see them protect the consumer by just refusing to sell produce using Apeel. Hey, maybe point out to them that Costco isn’t using it, and that they said it also adds cost for the retailer and for the consumer. They did tell me that! And these retailers do care about the bottom line and being able to compete with other chains.

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