Resinous glaze is an alcohol-based solution of various types of food-grade

shellac Shellac () is a resin secreted by the female lac bug on trees in the forests of India and Thailand. It is processed and sold as dry flakes and dissolved in alcohol to make liquid shellac, which is used as a brush-on colorant, food glaze and ...

. The shellac is derived from the raw material

sticklac Lac is the resinous secretion of a number of species of lac insects, of which the most commonly cultivated is ''Kerria lacca''. Cultivation begins when a farmer gets a stick that contains eggs ready to hatch and ties it to the tree to be infes ...

, which is a resin scraped from the branches of trees left from when the small insect, ''

Kerria lacca ''Kerria lacca'' is a species of insect in the family Kerriidae, the lac insects. These are in the superfamily Coccoidea, the scale insects. This species is perhaps the most commercially important lac insect, being a main source of lac, a resin ...

'' (also known as ''Laccifer lacca''), creates a hard, waterproof cocoon. When used in food and

confections Confectionery is the art of making confections, which are food items that are rich in sugar and carbohydrates. Exact definitions are difficult. In general, however, confectionery is divided into two broad and somewhat overlapping categories ...

, it is also known as confectioner's glaze, pure food glaze, natural glaze, or confectioner's resin. When used on medicines, it is sometimes called pharmaceutical glaze. Pharmaceutical glaze may contain 20–51% shellac in solution in

ethyl alcohol Ethanol (abbr. EtOH; also called ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, drinking alcohol, or simply alcohol) is an organic compound. It is an alcohol with the chemical formula . Its formula can be also written as or (an ethyl group linked to a hyd ...

(grain alcohol) that has not been denatured (

denatured alcohol Denatured alcohol (also called methylated spirits in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United Kingdom; wood spirit; and denatured rectified spirit) is ethanol that has additives to make it poisonous, bad-tasting, foul ...

is poisonous), waxes, and titanium dioxide as an opacifying agent. Confectioner’s glaze used for candy contains roughly 35% shellac, while the remaining components are

volatile organic compound Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are organic compounds that have a high vapour pressure at room temperature. High vapor pressure correlates with a low boiling point, which relates to the number of the sample's molecules in the surrounding air, a ...

s that evaporate after the glaze is applied. Pharmaceutical glaze is used by the drug and

nutritional supplement A dietary supplement is a manufactured product intended to supplement one's diet by taking a pill, capsule, tablet, powder, or liquid. A supplement can provide nutrients either extracted from food sources or that are synthetic in order ...

industry as a coating material for tablets and capsules. It serves to improve the product's appearance, extend

shelf life Shelf life is the length of time that a commodity may be stored without becoming unfit for use, consumption, or sale. In other words, it might refer to whether a commodity should no longer be on a pantry shelf (unfit for use), or no longer on a ...

and protect it from moisture, as well as provide a solid finishing film for pre-print coatings. It also serves to mask unpleasant odors and aid in the swallowing of the tablet. The shellac coating is insoluble in stomach acid and may make the tablet difficult for the body to break down or assimilate. For this reason, it can also be used as an ingredient in time-released, sustained or delayed-action pills. The product is listed on the U.S.

Food and Drug Administration The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is respon ...

's (FDA) inactive ingredient list. Shellac is labeled as GRAS ( generally recognized as safe) by the US FDA and is used as glaze for several types of foods, including some fruit, coffee beans, chewing gum, and candy. Examples of candies containing shellac include candy corn, Hershey's

Whoppers Whoppers are malted milk balls covered with an artificially flavored "chocolatey coating" produced by The Hershey Company. The candy is a small, round ball about in diameter. They are typically sold either in a small cardboard candy box, in a l ...

and Milk Duds,

Nestlé Nestlé S.A. (; ; ) is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland. It is the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other metrics, since ...

's Raisinets and Goobers, Tootsie Roll Industries's

Junior Mints Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

and Sugar Babies, Jelly Belly's

jelly bean Jelly beans are small bean shaped sugar candies with soft candy shells and thick gel interiors (see gelatin and jelly). The confection is primarily made of sugar and sold in a wide variety of colors and flavors. History It has been clai ...

s and Mint Cremes,

Russell Stover Russell William Stover (May 6, 1888 – May 11, 1954) was an American chemist and entrepreneur, and co-founder, with his wife Clara, of Russell Stover Candies. Early life In 1911, Stover married Clara Mae Lewis, whom he had met at the ...

's jelly beans, and several candies by

Godiva Chocolatier Godiva Chocolatier (; ) is a Belgian-based international chocolate maker which is owned by Turkish conglomerate Yıldız Holding Founded in 1926, it was purchased by Turkish Yıldız Holding in November 2007. In 2019, South Korean private equity ...

and Gertrude Hawk.

M&M's M&M's (stylized as m&m's) are multi-colored button-shaped chocolates, each of which has the letter "m" printed in lower case in white on one side, consisting of a candy shell surrounding a filling which varies depending upon the variety of M&M ...

do not contain shellac. A competing non-animal-based product is zein, a corn protein. It is preferred by some vegans because shellac production can kill many insects.

References

{{reflist Pharmacy Food additives