That Glossy Shine on Your Apples? It Might Be Bug Juice

You'd probably agree there's nothing worse than biting into a delicious, juicy fruit only to find that you've gobbled up an insect along with it. The thing is—regardless of whether you swallow an actual bug—you're likely consuming insect resin every time you chomp down on an apple, peach, and many other fruits. That's right: Many of your favorite fruits and vegetables are coated in a wax derived from the resin of several species of scale insects from the family Kerriidae. According to Molly Keck, an entomologist with the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension in San Antonio, these tiny, plant-eating bugs are "globular in form, legless, and live under a waxy layer that protects them." The specific scale insects used to produce food-grade resin are primarily found in tropical climates, including Sri Lanka, Taiwan, India, the Philippines, and other countries throughout Southeast Asia. 

"Their bodies produce this as a form of protection," she says.

Wild Bug Goo

In the wild, you can spot the hardened resin made by female lac insects as hardened little globs stuck to the twigs and branches of shrubs and small trees. Humans harvest the resin by cutting the twigs, melting the lac, then refining and filtering the resulting substance until it's suitable for uses ranging from fabric dyes and cosmetics to wood varnishes. The lac insects are destroyed during this process, says Keck.

Humans have harvested lac resin for millennia, and it has supposedly been used on foods since the 19th century. Yet we now take this integral material for granted—so much so that many people have completely forgotten lac resin or lac insects even exist. Be honest: How many times in your life have you considered the origins of the common words "lacquer" and "shellac," the latter of which is simply another word for lac resin? 

If the idea of eating bug fluids with your apples and pears skeeves you out, you're not alone. It's also created a conundrum for people with certain philosophical or religious dietary restrictions, including vegans. First, though, let's look at why we even use it.

Au Naturel to Manmade Protection

Why we coat produce with lac resin mostly comes down to keeping fruit safe and edible for longer. Most fruits naturally produce a waxy coating that serves as a barrier against light damage, fungus, bacteria, and dehydration—after all, many fruits consist of up to 90% water. But once farmers pick the fruit, they wash it to remove soil and other contaminants, which also strips away much of its natural wax. Without that protection, fruit becomes especially fragile: easily bruised, prone to drying out, and more susceptible to bacteria and other pests, especially as it travels from orchard or farm through the shipping and distribution process to your grocery store or farmers market.

So, during the packing stage—after damaged produce is discarded or diverted for other uses—the remaining fruit is cleaned, and edible wax coatings are applied. These coatings are often made from food-grade lac resins blended with plant-derived starches, fatty acids, or other polymers (large, long-chain molecules). They're used on many fruits and vegetables, including apples, pears, peaches, nectarines, cucumbers, citrus fruits, and avocados. Reapplying a protective coating is essential, especially for produce that isn't sold in additional packaging. 

"Edible coatings prevent evaporation of water and keep fruits and vegetables from shriveling or wilting too soon, especially for commodities that are sold unpackaged,” says Dr. Max Teplitski, chief science officer of the Washington, D.C.-based International Fresh Produce Association. "For some commodities that are disproportionately impacted by molds, some formulations may include antifungal compounds."

There are various methods for applying protective edible coatings to fruits and vegetables, including dipping, roller-brushing, and spraying. It only takes a minuscule amount of solution—about 3 milligrams, less than a single drop—to coat a small piece of produce, such as an apple. So, it's not as if there's a thick layer to bite through, and it's not something you'd typically notice.

After the coating is applied, the produce is sorted, labeled, boxed, crated, and either shipped or stored. When used correctly, edible coatings—including those made with shellac—can extend the shelf life of fruits and vegetables by 10 to 14 days. However, this depends on factors such as a fruit or vegetable's water content, natural sensitivity, and skin thickness. 

The coatings also have the added benefit of giving produce a shiny appearance, which many consumers—especially in the US—associate with freshness or quality. 

Not all edible coatings are made with lac resin, though. Other common ingredients include wax from the Brazilian carnauba palm and beeswax. Still, the food industry often prefers lac resin coatings—which are more expensive—for certain fruits because they perform better in specific applications.

"Beeswax-based coatings are used on products like citrus, for example, where only a moderate moisture barrier is important," Teplitski says. "Lac resin performs better in high-humidity or long-storage applications, which justifies its higher price. All these ingredients in edible coatings have different melting temperatures, they mix with other ingredients differently from each other, and they are not typically easily substituted."

Again, not all fruits and vegetables are coated, and those that are may be treated with different types of coatings. For example, organic produce doesn't get synthetic coatings and is more likely to be treated with those derived from lac insects, since shellac is considered acceptable under organic standards. Some sellers may prefer to use a cheaper synthetic, petroleum-based coating to reduce costs.

Is Lac Resin Safe to Eat?

In the US, the Food and Drug Administration reviews every formulation for edible coatings and waxes intended for use on fruits or vegetables, referring to them with official terms such as "food-grade wax coatings," "wax-resin coatings for produce," "surface-finishing agents," and "glazing agents." Lac resin-based coatings are also widely used in baking and candy making, where they may be labeled as "natural glaze" or "confectioners' glaze" and are commonly found in hard candy, candy corn, jelly beans, chocolates, and many popular name-brand sweets. In the pharmaceutical industry, they're known as "pharmaceutical glaze." 

These and the other FDA-tested edible coatings are considered completely safe for the vast majority of consumers. As with anything, however, there's always the possibility of incredibly rare allergies or other medical conditions. 

The coating doesn't alter the taste of the fruits or vegetables, either. "Pure food-grade lac resin should have no taste or flavor," Teplitski says. He adds that it's "highly unlikely" that any recipe's taste or texture would be affected by ingredients coated with wax or glazing agents, including those made with lac resin.

There are known cases, however, where shellac wax can react to high humidity, heat, or rapid changes in either, causing chalking, in which the edible coating can take on a chalky or milky appearance. This occurs when moisture condenses on the fruit, partially melting the wax before it resolidifies into visible blotches. Despite the unpleasant appearance, produce affected by chalking is still safe to eat and should taste no different.

Should I Eat Lac Resin?

Of course, food products made with insect resin can pose a religious or philosophical quandary. Lac scale insects aren't considered kosher animals. Still, many observant Jews seem to use the same reasoning that permits the consumption of honey, a product of the decidedly non-kosher honeybee: Since lac resin, like honey, is an animal secretion and not part of the animal itself, it occupies a gray area in Jewish dietary law. (Kosher certification organizations we reached out to didn't respond to requests for comment.)

For vegans, there's no easy workaround. As mentioned previously, lac insects are routinely destroyed in the process of harvesting lac resin, and the resin itself is clearly a product of animal labor—arguably even more exploitative than beekeeping. In the US, fruit packers stamp their bulk shipping containers with the contents, including whether the products have had a shellac coating applied. But consumers rarely see these markings, since grocers and fruit sellers don't display bulk packaging. So, should vegans stop eating fruit?

PETA didn't respond to a request for comment, but Ryan Smith, a decades-long vegan and news managing editor at the financial and travel news site Upgraded Points, says you sometimes just have to make do.

“I try to avoid waxed fruits when possible, but I live by the saying, 'Do what you can when you can,’" he says. "If there's an option for other fruits, I will always take that.”

Why You Shouldn't Let Fruit and Vegetable Shellac Bug You

There's that old joke: The only thing worse than finding a worm in your apple is finding half a worm. The fact is, though, that you've probably already eaten countless bugs—or at least their resin—with produce your entire life without even knowing it. And yet you lived to read this story. Though it's completely natural to be alarmed at first by insect-derived coatings on fruits and vegetables, the vast majority of people have absolutely nothing to worry about, as it's a safe ingredient that's been commonly used for over 100 years with no consequences. 

Will it gross your little brother out when you tell him? Yes, probably.

Will it make your little brother sick? No.