FrankenApple

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is poised to approve the first genetically engineered apple. The "Arctic Apple®” is engineered for the purely cosmetic purpose of preventing browning after it’s been sliced. Scientists say the technology used to create this new frankenapple is untested and inherently risky.

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Unless the USDA heeds consumers, environmentalists and apple growers who are speaking out against deregulation of the Arctic Apple, the first GMO apple could soon turn up in fast-food restaurants, school cafeterias—even baby food. With no labels to warn consumers.

The Arctic Apple poses a risk to human health, a risk to the environment and a risk to conventional and non-organic apple growers.

The “Arctic Apple®” wasn’t designed to increase nutritional value. It’s only purported benefit is purely cosmetic. A browning apple does not represent a problem. Natural solutions like applying lemon juice or another source of vitamin C already exist.

Many scientists believe the dsRNA technology used to create the Arctic Apple will have negative unintended impacts on human health and the environment.

The chemical compound that is shut off in the GMO apple, in order to prevent browning, also fights off plant pests. What happens when the apple’s ability to fend off insects is compromised? Growers will need to spray greater amounts of possibly even more toxic pesticides. Is this really a risk worth taking?

Apple-growing groups, including the U.S. Apple Association, Northwest Horticultural Council (which represents Washington apple growers, who grow over 60 percent of the apples in the U.S.), and British Columbia Fruit Growers Association, fear their orchards could be genetically contaminated, leading to the loss of valuable export markets and consumer confidence.

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