It looks like soon I’ll have to update my standard response when someone comments on our website about genetically modified fruits and vegetables.
“There are likely no GMO products in your produce department, although some squash, corn and Hawaiian papayas have been altered without the traditional crossbreeding or selective breeding methods,” is what I usually say. Now I’ll have to add apples and potatoes.
Judging from comments at the U.S. Apple Association Crop Outlook and Marketing Conference I attended and the Idaho Grower-Shippers Association Conference that a colleague went to, GMO versions of apples and potatoes will be approved by the Food and Drug Administration. It’s not a matter of if, but when. The Arctic apple, which has a non-browning trait, and Innate potato, which cuts down on bruising and acrylamides, are aimed at the processing market.
Every time we write about a new club variety of apple, the eventual question is about its GMO origins. You get the sense anything new is suspect, and although conventional wisdom is that consumers want more options, there is an increasing amount that distrust any genetic tinkering, even by traditional methods.
Read the full, original article: Guess who’s not hating on GMOs — you’ll be surprised
