Are You Ready for the Genetially Modified “Frankenapple”?

“A bowl of apples is like a piece of art,” says Tony Freytag, marketing director at Crunch Pak, an apple-processing company. “It’s display. People won’t touch it. But you put out a tray of cut-up apples — that’s food.”

From a 2006 New York Times article looking at the booming industry of sliced and packaged apples

Apples, beyond looking like art and being the symbolic embodiment of the fertile, natural world, are also a hugely popular and profitable “natural” commodity.

But as the above quote implies, cut apples are seen as more inviting and approachable than even the most perfect and flawless apple. This would explain why the cut and packaged apple industry is utterly booming. According to The New York Times, in 2006 “McDonald’s stocked 54 million pounds of pre-sliced apples, to sell with caramel dip or in salads, and this increased visibility boosted enthusiasm for them in school cafeterias and among time-strapped, health-conscious parents nationwide.” Crunch Pak, and the entire pre-sliced apple industry have greatly impacted how apples are sold, packaged, and consumed, and this, in large part, is due to the technological innovation employed to keep apples from browning.

Apples, upon being sliced and exposed to oxygen, naturally begin to discolor, or brown, but companies like Crunch Pak have figured out how to cheat nature by rinsing apples in a combination of calcium and ascorbic acid — vitamin C — to maintain “freshness” and color. This is because a package of beige apple slices, no matter how delicious, will just not sell.

While this little preservation method has insured the viability of the apple-processing industry, it has also brought forth other entrepreneurial enterprise – namely the introduction of the genetically modified (GM) apple. A Canadian biotechnology company, Okanagan Specialty Fruits, has asked the United States to approve a genetically modified apple that won’t brown soon after its sliced, saying this improvement could boost sales of apples for snacks, salads and other uses.

The concept is that this biotech development, called the “Arctic” Apple, will improve upon Mother Nature, and will provide greater shelf stability and durability for retailers (no word yet on how this will at all benefit consumers). This would not be the first genetically modified fruit on the market. Back in 1992, the US Department of Agriculture approved a genetically modified tomato that was proven to ripen more slowly, and genetically modified salmon are still working their way through the system, hoping to hit the market as early as 2011.

And domestically produced apples (at least the ones that are conventionally grown) are far from being wholly natural, with lots of cloning, spraying, and tinkering done behind the scenes. Even still, the leap from relatively natural to GM is a hard bite to swallow.

“Some people won’t like it just because of what it is,” says Neal Carter, president of the company that developed the apples. “In the end, it’s a great product, no question about it, and people will see the process used to get it had very sound science.” But Mr. Carter, there seemingly is a lingering question about it, and all GM food products, and this country, along with the European Union (which has all but banned all manner of GM products) remains intensely squeamish about “Frankenfruits” and “Frankenfoods.”

Does any of this bother you, or is our general distaste for all things scientifically engineered reveal more about our lack of vision and tendency toward reactionary protest, than the waning integrity of our food? Should we just take a bite of the apple and hope for the best, or is this, by chance, the sort of sin that could eject us from our metaphorical garden of Eden?

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Sarah M.

12:07AM PDT on Apr 10, 2011

Down with GMOs!

April 10
send a green star

Charles W.

8:30PM PST on Jan 15, 2011

The language is a bit stronger than I would use, but the message is priceless:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIvNopv9Pa8

January 15
send a green star

7:35AM PST on Dec 24, 2010

Elderly people with or without dentures have trouble eating whole apples. Cut apples are not just for lazy people.

December 24
send a green star

jane r.

9:17AM PST on Dec 9, 2010

Kathryn S. is right -- Leave my apples alone!

December 9
send a green star

Judith C.

9:38PM PST on Dec 8, 2010

noted

December 8
send a green star

Miranda M.

7:37PM PST on Dec 6, 2010

Okay--you know what? I am boycotting big business corporations as much as I possibly can--I want them out of my life! They are run mostly by greedy Republicans who could not give a **** about mine or my child's health, using us as guinea pigs, all to make their millions. I am sticking with local thank you--or even better yet--MY OWN! Ha ha!

December 6
send a green star

Ingela R. F.

3:37AM PST on Dec 5, 2010

As a squeamish European I stongly object to this outrageous manipulation of "our daily bread"!
I am happy that Europe stick to the "The Precautionary Principle" which states that if an action or policy has a suspected risk of causing harm to the public or to the environment, in the absence of scientific consensus that the action or policy is harmful, the burden of proof that it is not harmful falls on those taking the action.

December 5
send a green star

Walter G.

1:54PM PST on Dec 4, 2010

Yep, another way to generate a recall when various side effects begin to be noticed.

December 4
send a green star

Chrysi B.

2:04PM PST on Dec 2, 2010

nope, not cool. they took corn, now apples too! these huge companies need to be put in their place! we won't eat your s***! let's hope we know how not to. well, organic and local is the place to start..