Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Got Petroleum...On your fruit? ewwww

Long story short...
I made an awesome mounds like candy the other day (an invention) and thought that I'd look it up to see a "real" recipe. Well, I found one but it included paraffin.

HUH? I thought that paraffin was a petroleum product for candles and such, not for food. But, upon further research found that it is approved for food and is commonly used in chocolate and as a coating on apples and other fruits and veggies. (Good reason to stick with the food list for chocolate)

I guess when I hear "food grade wax" I think of beeswax. But no, paraffin is considered food grade.

So, random theory based on Danika's wandering thoughts...could this be a reason why so many kids react to apples?

If anyone has info on how to tell if an apple is waxed, oiled, or natural, or any other info related to this, please send it in. In the meantime we'll keep buying our fruit from Azure Standard or wait till our trees come on.

Here's a little Wiki for your reading enjoyment
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraffin

1 comment:

Mom's Sewing Vault said...

Inquiring minds want to know....

This is a discussion about the kosher-ness of fruit waxes, but is quite detailed and interesting:
http://www.star-k.org/kashrus/kk-vegetables-wax.htm

This page claims that all Washington apples use a non-petroleum based wax:
http://www.bestapples.com/facts/facts_waxing.shtml

This page claims that organic fruit will not have petroleum based wax:
http://www.greenyour.com/lifestyle/food-drink/fruit/tips/buy-unwaxed-fruit

This page also assumes (about 2/3 down under "Apples and Pesticide Residues") that organic apples will have non-petroleum wax:
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?dbid=15&tname=foodspice

This misguided extension piece on food wax actually calls petroleum-based wax "natural:"
http://web.extension.illinois.edu/mclean/kitchen/020728.html

And that was only a 10 minute search. hmmm