First Commercial Crop of GMO Arctic Apples About to Hit Market
The first commercial crop of Arctic Apples—genetically modified (GMO) apples that won't turn brown when sliced—are about to hit the market.
The apples stirred up major controversy in February 2015 when the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) deemed both the Arctic Golden Delicious and Arctic Granny varieties safe for human consumption. It was the first time the federal agency approved an aesthetically-improved genetically engineered food.
According to Good Fruit Grower, a publication from the Washington State Fruit Commission, after 20 years of development, Okanogan Specialty Fruits is expecting to harvest its first commercial crop of about 50 bins of Arctic Golden Delicious in Washington this year.
The Canadian company will also plant its first Arctic Granny Smiths this year and is awaiting approval from the USDA for a third variety, the Arctic Fuji. On Dec. 31, 2015, the company formally submitted a petition to the USDA requesting the deregulation of its GMO Fuji, and announced plans for its fourth variety, the Arctic Gala.
Neal Carter, company president and founder, told Good Fruit Grower that his company has planted roughly 15 acres of Goldens in Washington, which will yield a small crop this fall.
The blossoming venture plans to add more acreage mostly in Washington this year for its Arctic Golden and Arctic Granny varieties, with even more in other states and Canada in the following few years.
Carter said that the first apples will be test marketed in select stores this year. As production ramps up, more apples will by distributed to locations in the U.S. and Canada. Carter declined to name which growers, packers or retailers will be working with Arctic Apples.
Good Fruit Grower reported that once regulatory agencies have approved the apple varieties, the company may promote its flagship product like any other apple you see in the market.
“What that approval means is it’s treated like any other apple variety,” Carter said.
So why doesn't an Arctic Apple turn brown? As NPR explained:
The non-browning trait was created by inserting extra copies of genes that the apple already possessed. These genes normally create an enzyme called polyphenol oxidase, which is responsible for the chemical reaction that causes browning.
Yet when extra copies of the gene are added, the apple reacts by shutting down all of them, stopping production of the enzyme and preventing the browning reaction. (Like any apple, these apples eventually will go brown from normal rotting. It's the immediate "enzymatic browning" that's blocked.)
However, Wenonah Hauter, the executive director of Food & Water Watch, warned that this method of genetic engineering, known as RNA interference, could have "unintended effects" to the apple and to the people who consume it:
This technology uses RNA to silence a target gene, but mounting evidence has shown that meddling with the genes could have unintended effects within the plant and also on organisms that eat the plant. The particular gene targeted by this technology allows the apples to be sliced without turning brown, which could mislead consumers into thinking they are eating fresh apples when they might be eating apples on the verge of rotting. Browning is an important indicator to consumers in determining the freshness of an apple or apple slice. The silenced gene is also heavily involved in a plant’s natural defense against pests and pathogens, which could lead to trees that are less healthy than non-GMO apples and rely on more chemical treatments to ward off pests and disease.
Environmental organizations and concerned consumers have also criticized the USDA's stamp of approval. The USDA's environmental review received 73,000 comments that vehemently opposed the commercialization of the apples. In an article, Friends of the Earth warned that people who buy the apples won't even know they are eating it: "Like other genetically modified organisms, the Arctic apple will not be required to be labeled as genetically engineered."
Following intense consumer backlash, a number of major food companies such as Wendy’s, McDonald’s and Gerber expressed that they had no plans to source or sell the GMO apple.
Okanogen Specialty Fruits is owned by Intrexon, which has a major stake in the similarly controversial GMO salmon company, AquaBounty.
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
EU Fails to Approve ‘Technical Extension’ for Weed-Killer Glyphosate
Taiwan Recalls Quaker Oats Products Imported From U.S. After Detecting Glyphosate
California to Officially List Key Ingredient in Monsanto's Roundup as Cancer-Causing
Glyphosate, the main ingredient in Monsanto's widely used herbicide Roundup, will be added July 7 to California's list of chemicals known to the state to cause cancer, according to a Reuters report Tuesday. This news comes after the company's unsuccessful attempt to block the listing in trial court and requests for stay were denied by a state appellate court and California's Supreme Court.
California's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) announced the designation on Monday under the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986, or Proposition 65.
Only 30 Left in the Wild: Saving the Nearly Extinct Vaquita
In one of the longest campaigns in Sea Shepherd's history, Operation Milagro III concluded its six-month operation in Mexico's Gulf of California to protect the near-extinct vaquita porpoise and the endangered totoaba bass.
6 Endangered Whales Found Dead This Month in 'Unprecedented Event'
Canadian government officials and marine biologists are investigating the mysterious deaths of six North American right whales. The endangered animals all turned up dead between June 6 and June 23 in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, off Canada's southeastern coast.
North Atlantic right whales are the rarest of all large whale species and among the rarest of all marine mammal species, with only about 450 right whales in the North Atlantic.
Top EPA Official 'Bullied' Scientist to Change Congressional Testimony
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) chief of staff pressured the leader of its Board of Scientific Counselors to change her congressional testimony to downplay the impact of the agency's mass dismissal of scientists from the board, the New York Times reports.
Is Giant Sequoia National Monument Next on the Hit List?
By Jason Mark
Sequoiadendron giganteum. That's the scientific name for the giant sequoia: the mammoth trees found in California's Sierra Nevada that are the largest organisms on Earth, and among the longest-lived. Biologists estimate that about half of all sequoias live in Giant Sequoia National Monument, a 328,000-acre preserve in the Southern Sierra Nevada established by President Clinton in 2000.
Now that national monument is in jeopardy.
Teenagers See Renewables as Fuel of Their Generation
By Andy Rowell
Donald Trump this week is launching an "energy week," pushing the argument that the U.S. will become a net exporter of oil and gas.
The president and his cronies are talking about a new era of "U.S. energy dominance," which could stretch for decades to come. However, no one believes the president anymore.
11 Stunning Photos of the World's Newest Biosphere Reserves
By Colleen Curry
The United Nations has designated 23 new sites around the world to its World Network of Biosphere reserves—stunning natural landscapes that balance environmental and human concerns and strive for sustainability.
The forests, beaches and waterways were added to the list this year at the International Coordinating Council of the Man and the Biosphere Programme meeting in Paris earlier this month.
France to Ban All New Development of Shale Oil and Gas
By Andy Rowell
There is a growing feeling within European capitals that a quiet, but deeply positive, revolution is happening under Emmanuel Macron in France.
Macron's opinion poll rating is high, especially boosted in how the young French president has reacted to Donald Trump on the international stage.
Schwarzenegger and Macron Take Selfie Video to 'Make the Planet Great Again'
Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger posted a selfie video Friday with French president Emmanuel Macron, in what some are reading as Schwarzenegger's latest jab at President Trump on climate change.
