What shellac is
Shellac is a resin. The female lac bug, Kerria lacca, secretes it onto tree branches in India and Thailand, and harvesters scrape it off. The Vegetarian Resource Group (VRG), which keeps a reference list of food ingredients, defines it in the terms a label reader needs.
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The purified product of a natural resin found on tree branches as a hardened secretion of a small, parasitic insect (Kerria lacca). Its major food use is as a coating on produce or candy.
Wikipedia’s entry puts the number of lac bugs behind a kilogram of shellac between 50,000 and 300,000, and describes how the raw resin is melted through canvas tubes to leave the bark and the bugs behind. In other words, the insects are part of the harvest, which is one reason vegan and vegetarian groups treat it as an animal product.
What it is called on a label
The same substance travels under several names. The VRG lists them together, and the FDA’s food-substance inventory, filed under purified shellac, carries an overlapping set.
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Also known as: orange shellac, lac resin, confectioner’s resin, confectioner’s glaze, resinous glaze, candy glaze, pure food glaze, natural glaze, lacca, E904
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CANDY GLAZE ♦ CONFECTIONER'S GLAZE ♦ SHELLAC, PURIFIED ♦ GUM LAC ♦ LAC RESIN
E904 is the additive number used in Europe. Pharmaceutical glaze is the same resin used on tablets and capsules, and Wikipedia describes confectioner’s glaze for candy as roughly 35 percent shellac dissolved in alcohol along with volatile components that evaporate after it is applied.
Where it shows up
The VRG lists fruit, vegetables, nuts, confections, chocolate, coffee beans and pharmaceuticals as places shellac is used. The two that matter most for shoppers are candy and produce.
On candy, the shine on jelly beans, chocolate-covered sweets and sprinkles is the usual sign. Wikipedia’s resinous glaze entry, citing the VRG, lists candy corn, Hershey’s Whoppers and Milk Duds, Nestle’s Raisinets and Goobers, Junior Mints, Sugar Babies and Jelly Belly jelly beans as containing shellac at the time, and says M&M’s do not. Recipes change, so use that list as a pointer and read the pack.
On produce, waxes replace the natural coating that washing removes. The US apple industry says its coatings come from carnauba, candelilla and, for a small share, food-grade shellac.
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They come from natural sources including carnauba wax from the leaves of a Brazilian palm, candelilla wax derived from reed-like desert plants and less than two percent from food-grade shellac, which comes from a secretion of the lac bug found in India and Pakistan.
Wikipedia adds that shellac is used as a wax coating on citrus fruit to extend storage life. A waxed apple or lemon has no ingredient panel, so the only way to check is the retailer’s wax disclosure or a question to the produce staff.
Vegetarian or not
The answer to the vegetarian question has moved. The VRG files shellac under vegetarian but not vegan, while the Vegetarian Society in the UK stopped accepting it on its vegetarian mark from 2022, after an ISO standard (ISO 23662, published in 2021) set out which foods count as suitable for vegetarians.
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Category: Vegetarian (not vegan)
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From January 2022, the Vegetarian Society will no longer accredit new products containing shellac with the Vegetarian Society Approved vegetarian trademark.
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It is important to note that the process of producing shellac has not changed, but the guidance on foods suitable for vegetarians has.
So whether a vegetarian eats confectioner’s glaze depends on which body’s definition they follow. The vegan answer does not vary. The Vegan Society counts insects as animal foods, and shellac is an insect secretion collected together with the insects.
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The Vegan Society also describes a vegan diet as avoiding all animal foods such as meat (including fish, shellfish and insects), dairy, eggs and honey.
What replaces it
Plant waxes do the same job. The Vegetarian Society lists them as the alternative to shellac, and the apple industry names carnauba and candelilla as coatings it already uses. Wikipedia’s resinous glaze entry notes zein, a corn protein, as a non-animal competitor that some vegans prefer because shellac production can kill many insects. A Vegan Society or other vegan certification mark on candy or a supplement means the coating has been checked.