Studies have found that children are more likely to eat sliced fruit than whole fruit. But like many mothers, Sarah, a registered nurse and wife of a farmer in Alberta, has trouble getting her kids to eat apples once the slices have browned.
To address those needs and make apples more marketable, the Canadian company Okanagan Specialty Fruits developed Arctic Apples, which are genetically modified to resist browning. Most browning and bruising is caused by a enzymatic browning triggered when you bite, slice or drop an apple. The Arctic Apple uses biotechnology (GMO) within the apple family to stop the browning process and also retains the healthiness of the apple, as when apples start to brown, they lose health-promoting phenolics and antioxidants that are otherwise lost to the browning process.
“One of the things that appeals to me most as a mom who tries hard to be eco-friendly and as a consumer is the reduction of waste that a non-browning apple would bring to the table,” Sarah writes. Arctic Apples are pending approval, but will likely be released in Canada in 2014 and the US in 2015. Sarah stresses that they will be labeled.
Sarah’s story provoked a torrent of reactions in the comment section, including many harsh ones from anti-GMO activists and many reasoned discussions.
Read the full, original story: Arctic Apples: The Non-Browning Apple
