California-based company Apeel Sciences, which develops plant-based, edible coatings to extend the shelf-life of fresh produce, has revealed it filed a lawsuit on 29 August against wellness influencer Robyn Openshaw and her company, which runs the wellness advice website Green Smoothie Girl.
In the lawsuit, which was filed in the US District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Apeel accuses Openshaw of waging a “years’ long disinformation campaign intended to harm Apeel’s business and reputation”.
It also asserts claims for false advertising under the Lanham Act; defamation; trade libel; disparagement of perishable agricultural products; tortious interference with business relationships; and unfair and deceptive trade practices.
According to Apeel, Openshaw began posting false claims about its products in July 2023. Between then and May 2025, it is claimed, she published multiple posts on various online media channels, in which she stated that Apeel’s plant-based coating is “toxic” and that Apeel’s products are “made with solvents and heavy metals”.
One more recent post, which was updated in September 2024 and is entitled Why the Apeel Coating Is Toxic and Doesn’t Even Work, makes those precise claims.
Other posts argued that the company’s products contained “palladium, arsenic,...
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