The Food Issue
2015
Grains
West
8
TABLE
TALK
BY TYLER DIFLEY
A GENETICALLY MODIFIED (GM)
apple, designed to resist browning when
sliced, bruised or bitten, has been ap-
proved for cultivation and sale in Canada,
making it the first GM fruit that will be
commercially grown on Canadian soil.
Okanagan Specialty Fruits developed
the non-browning “Arctic” apple by
inserting a gene that reduces the level
of polyphenol oxidase, an enzyme that
causes apple flesh to brown when exposed
to oxygen.
A browned apple might not seem like
such a terrible thing. However, it’s possi-
ble that the discolouration is prompting
some consumers to avoid buying the fruit
in the first place—a problem the Arctic
apple is designed to eliminate.
“Arctic apples have the potential to
increase apple consumption and really
put more apples in more places,” said Neal
Carter, president of Okanagan Specialty
Fruits. “I think the industry should be
excited about that prospect.”
Browning also reduces the value of
apples and other fruits in the food in-
dustry, where presentation is extremely
important. Fresh-cut apples often need to
be treated with antioxidants to preserve
their colour, and apples are frequently
passed up in favour of other fruits for use
in processed products because they brown
so quickly.
“We know there’s a host of new prod-
ucts that will come out of this, because
we’re going to be able to use apples in
products that currently they’re not used
for at all because of the enzymatic brown-
ing,” Carter said. “Businesses can com-
mercialize new products from it because
of this trait.”
Despite all of its potential benefits, the
Arctic apple has its fair share of detrac-
tors, including anti-genetically modified
organism (GMO) advocates and some
fruit-grower groups. The BC Fruit Grow-
ers’ Association and the Canadian Bio-
technology Action Network, for example,
are concerned that the Arctic apple will
dissuade GMO-averse consumers from
buying any apples, not just GM ones.
“A major risk of approving the ap-
ples is one we already see unfolding in
Canada, which is consumer confusion
and reluctance around apple purchas-
ing,” said Lucy Sharratt, co-ordinator
for the Canadian Biotechnology Action
Network, a coalition of environmental
and anti-GMO advocacy groups. “We
have heard from consumers that some
are already thinking about alternatives
to apples, so the risk here is an economic
risk to the market for apples.”
According to Sharratt, the potential im-
pact of the Arctic apple on the Canadian
apple industry and consumer perception
should have been studied further before
the federal government approved the fruit.
“We think the government needs to
actually step up and look at the social
and economic impacts of decisions like
this,” Sharratt said. “This will only get
more complicated for both consumers and
farmers.”
Okanagan Specialty Fruits has pledged
to mark all of its fresh apples with the
Arctic apple logo to di erentiate them
from unmodified apples. The company
also plans to mark food products contain-
ing Arctic apple ingredients with a similar
logo, but according to Sharratt, that might
be easier said than done.
“I don’t see how food manufacturers
are going to be spending the money
changing their packaging to include a
corporate logo associated with the GM
apple,” Sharratt said. “So even with the
form of labelling or identification that the
company proposes, there’s a great many
questions about whether that will actually
come to fruition.”
The first two Arctic apple varieties will
be non-browning versions of the Granny
Smith and Golden Delicious, with Arctic
Fuji and Arctic Gala varieties to follow.
The process of planting new orchards to
produce the Arctic apples will take some
time, but Okanagan Specialty Fruits hopes
to have small quantities available for pur-
chase in late 2016.
Carter said creating new Arctic apple
varieties is a priority for the company, but
he also wants to explore the possibility
of other non-browning fruits. “We want
to leverage our know-how in controlling
enzymatic browning into other fruits, so
we’re working on projects related to that,
too,” he said.
The ArcticGranny Smith apple (right) does not brown like its conventional counterpart (le ).
GMAPPLEGETSCANADIANAPPROVAL
Photo:OkanaganSpecialtyFruits
