Andi and I had a discussion about shampoo bars, formulation and selling independent, small batch products. As part of this discussion squalene/squalane oil came up. What is an opinion of this oil, good or bad?
Ha, what the heck is it?
Andi is incredible at researching ingredients for shampoo and other applications. The idea of some unheard of ingredient is fairly routine in our discussions. Normally, when I try to catch up on ingredient information it does not lead to quite the reading labyrinth that this topic did.
Squalene oil and squalane oil are two different things. Although some websites and online stores selling miracle anti-aging products use them interchangeably they are actually very different.
Squalene oil is an oil that is historically sourced from the livers of sharks. It is a horrible process that will not be detailed here. Funny though, squalene is also present in some plants. Olives and olive oil is one source. Olives, compared to other plant sources, have a higher percentage.
Squalene oil is touted as a fantastic moisturizer because the human body/skin has it naturally but it decreases as we age. Think a baby’s beautiful dewy skin next to an adult. When it is added to cosmetics it is all kinds of good.
However, squalene oil is unstable. The nitty gritty of why and its composition is not important here and is biochemical. Yuk.
Squalene oil is unstable which actually means it does not have a commercial shelf life. Back to the commercial aspect. In order to give it a shelf life it is hydrogenated it and it becomes squalane oil. This is where the rabbits start digging.
So, why not just use olive oil? Hm. Not as fancy? I don’t know but squalane oil is pricey and hydrogenated. Isn’t hydrogenated bad? Squalane might be the greatest thing since face lifts but the bottom line is that it is a modified natural product.
To improve shelf life.
Let’s just use Wikipedia for hydrogenation. Here’s the process “Hydrogenation is a chemical reaction between molecular hydrogen (H2) and another compound or element, usually in the presence of a catalyst such as nickel, palladium or platinum.”
Hm. Let’s go further.
The reading on squalene/squalane led me to a product called Apeel, no clue how, that’s how rabbit holes go. Let’s face it, the internet is a bizarre and frightening place and there are topics and articles that I will just not touch. This is not one of them.
Apeel is a product made by a company in California, funded partially by Bill Gates, that is a coating applied to produce that improves shelf life. The aim, according to the company’s very nice website, is to address food waste. I get that, I work where there is food waste and it is disgusting on some level. On another level, it is unavoidable.
It really is worth a look
Food waste is a worthy cause but is it food waste or profits or something else, that is the goal?
Companies (even farmers in the field as the plants are growing) spray this stuff on produce and organic produce. Yes, there’s a formula for organic produce. It is tough to remove but harmless and natural according to Apeel.
It’s funny reading about squalene oil and then reading about Apeel. The truth may indeed lie somewhere in the middle but depending on what website you read, the two sides seem very far apart.
One website, trying to sell a miracle anti-aging something or other said there is no difference between squalene and squalane. That’s a flat out lie. Squalene goes in, it is chemically altered (for shelf life), and squalane comes out. Apeel has both its fans and its detractors. Lies in there somewhere I am sure, but I could not see them.
So what is Apeel?
Apeel is an ordorless, tasteless spray put on produce to keep it from rotting. It is made from produce waste. Grape skins from wine making is one specific food waste mentioned. It is mono and diglycerides and other stuff. Proprietary chemicals is the other stuff. The organic formula is mono and diglycerides plus baking soda and citric acid. It extends shelf life a couple days and is pretty darn difficult to remove. It is used on regular and organic produce and is supposed to be labeled but is not always.
It also contains heavy metals. You read that right and that information is from Apeel. Fear not though, the FDA consider it “generally recognized as safe” and Apeel says you’d have to eat an absurd amount of produce to, I don’t know, make it less than “generally recognized as safe”.
OOOOK for 3 more days of shelf life?
The metals in Apeel are lead, cadmium, arsenic, palladium, and mercury. That’s according to Apeel. The organic form Organipeel is labeled as a pesticide by the EPA.
This post closes with two thoughts. The first comes from a Substack article whose author was really incensed by the thought of this stuff and mentioned produce from Costco (or Sam’s) as an example. When you bite into this gorgeous piece of fruit and the inside is like nothing resembling that fruit. That has happened to me with peaches. The texture, taste and even the color were weird. I did return them and have only purchased peaches from a farm south of here since. I had zero idea about Apeel at the time.
Whether or not this stuff is the greatest invention for food freshness ever, heavy metals is not something anyone should make a part of their diet.
Apeel is designed to not be removed. The organic form is somewhat better but still designed to not be removed. They’ve developed it so that you can not wash it off.
Think about that.
What’s the point? Be aware.
If you want to look 15 years old and need shark liver oil to do so, just use olive oil. Be aware of what’s in your food.
Maybe find a farmer’s market. They are fun and Andi might be there selling shampoo bars :)
**There was apparently a stink in Europe at one point where people were freaking out over Apeel because apparently there is also a cleaning product named Apeel. This post is not about the cleaning product. This is about what is on produce at the grocery store and comes out of a company in CA.
**There are no sources on this article because the information is easy to find and not complicated.
yes, indeed the places rabbit trails will lead you. Very interesting and informative. Thank you. While ignorance can be bliss, the rabbit trails point to why ignorance may not be healthy ... Good luck with the shampoo bars.
So enlightening. Thank you! The pears off my tree aren’t pretty but are certainly free of dangerous chemicals.