evidence: Disinformation Campaign [edit]In the Spring of 2023, Apeel was targeted with a disinformation campaign online. The disinformation initially conflated Apeel’s primary product with a similarly named household cleaning product and maintained the ingredients were harmful to humans, even though the companies and products are completely unrelated.[16] [17] The disinformation also inaccurately inflates Bill Gates’ involvement with the company. While the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation provided early grant funding, Bill Gates has no involvement with nor any ownership stake in Apeel.[18] Further false information has appeared in social media posts claiming Apeel’s edible food coatings are "toxic" to humans. However, the US FDA, global regulatory agencies, and other food and nutrition experts have affirmed the safety of Apeel’s products for consumption by consumers.[19] Additional posts have falsely claimed that heavy metals were being intentionally added to and left in Apeel’s products, incorrectly interpreting the data reported in Apeel’s historical GRAS notices, which are not representative of how Apeel’s ingredients are currently manufactured (i.e., using standard manufacturing processes for mono- and diglycerides). Apeel does not add heavy metals as an ingredient during the manufacturing process.[20] Agricultural feedstocks have naturally occurring levels of heavy metal impurities due to the uptake of these substances from the surrounding soil, air, and water.[21] However, the production and processing of these agricultural feedstocks must remove such impurities to levels below their regulated safe limits.