RED DEER — Sliced apples that do not turn brown will be available in stores in October but the developer of the genetically modified fruit knows there is still a stigma around these kinds of products.
“Nobody likes yucky apples,” said Neal Carter, who started working with scientists on a gene reversal technique to prevent the release of an enzyme called polyphenol oxidase.
Rather than adding a foreign gene, Okanagan Speciality Fruits went for genetic modification that silences the PPO enzyme. It does not change any other aspect of the cultivar.
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He and his wife, Louisa, formed the Summerland, B.C., based company, and development of the apple started in 1997. The first non- browning apple was grown in 2004 and approval from Canadian and U.S. regulators was received in 2015.
“One of the key motivators when we got started is biotech is supposed to be fast,” he said at the Alberta Agricultural Economics Association’s annual meeting in Red Deer April 27-28
Three varieties, Golden Grannies, Arctic Fuji and Golden Arctic, will be available as bagged product. Gala will be the next non-browning variety available.
He believes in the product and just finished planting 18,000 more trees at a farm in Washington state in a high density orchard.
An apple and cherry grower, Carter saw apple consumption declining and wanted to introduce something new.
“We wanted to create something that had consumer benefits,” he said.
Others were trying to address the browning problem.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture was developing an antioxidant treatment to stop browning and food companies started to slice and sell apples.
Fast food restaurants started offering fresh sliced apples in a bag.
People thought apple consumption would surge but the product did not have a lot of mainstream retail success. Some products had a chemical smell and people did not like them.
The Arctic Apple is controversial and will be labelled, but carrying that GMO label can demonize a product without scientific basis, said Carter.
“Biotechnology has been very bad at educating the consumer about the benefits of the technology.”
They have conducted consumer surveys and learned people are confused about genetic modification. About half said they would be willing to buy a non-browning apple. When asked if they would prefer the use of antioxidant chemicals to prevent browning, more said they would be willing to try a modified fruit.
The fear of the unknown has turned into an anti-GMO movement, said University of Guelph scientist Andreas Boecker.
“It is not only corporations like Monsanto and Syngenta but also individual farmers are being singled out through social media who are subjected to mean or bullying behaviour,” he said.
When consumers are surveyed, many admit they do not know much about biotechnology. However, when they look for information, they tend to search out material that already fits in with their current beliefs so the biotechnology conversation continues to be emotional.
“The situation is not a battle but a series of millions of skirmishes and has to be a continuous effort at all levels to educate people,” he said.
