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Look Out! More GMO Foods are Headed to Your Store!
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With all the protests and fuss over the GMO foods that are already being pushed on the American people, you might think that the USDA would think twice, or maybe three times before they approved any further GMO foods. Sadly, this is not the case. Genetically modified apples have just been approved by the USDA, even though they have already received more than 73,000 comments from the American public that these apples are not wanted.
The new apples, called Arctic apples, were developed by the Okanagan Specialty Fruit Company, who is quite proud of their Franken-Fruit, calling it a marriage of science and nature.
This is the problem with Big Food: they fail to realize that they are rolling the dice with the health of human beings with their self-replicating genetic monsters. The USDA, also, has failed to look at the full range of risks that this new GMO apple represents. The potential for cross pollination contamination of non-GMO apples and these new GMO apples is quite high. These GMO apple trees can weaken the defenses of current apple trees.
To add insult to injury, the Okanagan Specialty Fruits Company was only too proud to announce that they will soon be able to offer GMO cherries, pears, and peaches.
These apples won’t have GMO warning labels, either. The USDA says that the name, Arctic apple, will be label enough. However, you won’t see the word “Arctic” apple on your apple juice, apple pie, or anything else that contains these apples.
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The Arctic apple won’t turn brown within a few minutes after cutting it open. They believe this will lead people to buy more, as well as eat more apples. When they can cut open an apple, eat half today, and eat the other half the next day, it won’t have that unappealing brown color to it.
The truth is that since this apple won’t be marked as GMO, and all foods containing apples will now be suspect, people will probably eat fewer apples since all apples will now be suspect of being GMO. Although fresh apples should have the “Arctic” sticker, which tell people that the fruit is a GMO product, most people simply won’t remember which name is the GMO product, or they will worry that the label came off. Rather than risk their health, they will simply shun all apples and apple products and choose some other type of fruit.
This food company accomplished this non-browning feature by genetically suppressing the PPO gene (polyphenol oxidase), which is responsible for the brown color after cutting apples.
Although this might sound fairly harmless, turning off this gene might reduce the fruits nutritional polyphenols, which is one of the many things that make apples so healthy! By altering this gene, you might need to change that old saying to “An Arctic apple a day, hope the doctor is a phone call away.”
What is the point of eating more apples if you have removed the very gene that makes them healthy? If all you get from an apple is fiber, you might as well eat sawdust.
Here is another thing to consider: How do you know that those apple slices you are buying are fresh? Since they will no longer turn brown, perhaps your supermarket or even vendors at schools and county fairs won’t have a problem selling you their three or four week old apple slices? How will you know when you are eating fresh apples or not?
This gene is also heavily involved in a plant’s natural defense against pathogens or insect invasion. This means these trees could be less healthy or, in the case of insect infestation, this simply means that they will spray these apples with even more pesticides than they already receive. It’s hard to imagine what that might mean since apples are already one of the most contaminated fruits on the planet in terms of insecticide use. They are always at the top of the dirty dozen list every single year.
Now imagine supermarkets everywhere filled with GMO bananas, cherries, oranges, pears, cherries, and apples. People might be willing to eat more of them, and they might even be thinking that they are eating healthy fruits and vegetables, when all they are consuming are tastier versions of sawdust with very little nutritional value.
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Unfortunately, many of these biotech scientists who are creating these Franken-Fruits believe that they are the saviors of the planet, creating foods that they think will stop world hunger or improve eating habits. They don’t seem to understand that they are risking changing the future of all crops and plant life in general, in the not so distant future.
If you think that this GMO apple won’t be a big deal, think again. Look at what GMO corn and soy has done to that industry. Almost no one wants to eat these foods and if the food isn’t clearly labeled as being NON-GMO, people simply don’t buy it. The food companies that are having the most growth and success right now are those that are making and selling certified organic non-GMO vegetables and foods.
At least if we had honest labeling, people would be free to make their choice. Those who don’t care about their health would continue to buy whatever they wish, but those who care about what they are putting in their bodies would actively purchase items marked non-GMO. If America had honest labeling, you would restore a free market approach that would allow consumer demand to dictate the type of food that should be grown and produced.
All of this is actually unnecessary. If you wish to improve a fruit species, do what farmers have been doing for centuries; simply use selective breeding. It’s as simple as that.
SEE ALSO: How To Read Food Labels Infographic
Although at least these GMO apples won’t be infused with RoundUp, as corn and soy are, they are still screwing with Mother Nature’s perfect design and possibly with our health as these apples might be all taste, and no nutritional value.
These apples, which are available in the Golden Delicious and Granny Smith varieties, should start appearing on your supermarket shelves in about 2 years. Okanagan has stated that these trees have just recently been planted and that they expected the first harvest of about 10,000 pounds to be available for sale in the fall of 2016.
Be smart and side with Mother Nature. Eat a natural, organic apple each day and keep that doctor away!
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tes1900
Apr 23, 2015 at 6:08 pm
I hope they get here soon, it’s about time…party time
jaeger8383
May 2, 2015 at 3:56 am
I wouldn’t mind this at all if they were at least labelled as GMO food.