[6] Pharmaceutical glaze is used by the drug and nutritional supplement industry as a coating material for tablets and capsules.
It serves to improve the product's appearance, extend shelf life and protect it from moisture, as well as provide a solid finishing film for pre-print coatings.
[citation needed] The shellac coating is insoluble in stomach acid and may make the tablet difficult for the body to break down or assimilate.
[7] 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 and Milk Duds, Nestlé's Raisinets and Goobers, Tootsie Roll Industries's Junior Mints and Sugar Babies, Jelly Belly's jelly beans and Mint Cremes, Russell Stover's jelly beans, and several candies by Godiva Chocolatier and Gertrude Hawk.