A few weeks ago I posted about Mini Baby Bel’s red wax wrapper and how the company could not confirm that the red dye doesn’t leach into the cheese it contains. Here is the response I received.
Dear Miss Kaplan,
Thank you for contacting us.
Our wax is composed of fully refined paraffin wax, micro-crystalline wax, and a low percentage of Polyethylene. It is colored with varying pigments, depending on which flavor of our cheese it will coat: if the wax is red, it contains red dye #40; if yellow, it contains yellow dye #5.
The wax is G.R.A.S. , which means “Generally Recognized As Safe” by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and it meets all of their requirements in regards to wax that covers or contacts food. (Cardboard containers of ice cream are similarly waxed on the inside.) While we do not recommend eating it, if a person or pet accidentally consumes the wax, there will be no harmful effects.
The wrapper we put outside the wax on each piece of Mini Babybel cheese is cellophane.
We hope we can continue to count you among our valued customers.
Sincerely,
Customer Service
Bel Brands USA
BTW, Red dye #40 and yellow dye #5 have been linked to cancer, ADHD and allergies. How about it, BabyBel? Let’s have naturally colored wax wrappers.
The big question is: Have they never thought about how wasteful it is to have them wrapped in this wax that´s only there to be thrown away? I know all kinds of consumer products comes wrapped in all kind of excessive things, but babybel and kinder eggs are some of the worst on that account if you look at the garbage:product factor.
Are you serious? The wax around cheese serves a specific purpose. Please use Google.
Baby bell cheese wax has no specific purpose. It is purely cosmetic. Wax on aged cheese is a completely different thing.
There are two separate layers of wax on a Baby Bel. The hard dyed exterior wax and the food grade clear wax that touches the cheese.
I can taste the wax in the cheese. This tells me that there are petrochemicals leaching into the fat content. Paraffin wax is NOT food-safe, even if the government says it is. The FDA is a small organization and doesn’t have the resources to really test these things. They simply outlaw the most obvious poisons, but many fall through the cracks.
Also, I agree with the comment about producing more waste. This is especially true as the baby bel cheese has shrunk in size.
Someone else said to use Google. PLEASE do NOT use Google. They give you biased search results.