More genetically modified (GM) B.C. fruit is set to be sold in the U.S. thanks to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approving for sale Okanagan Specialty Fruits' (OSF) fourth variety of non-browning apple, the Arctic Gala.
The Summerland, B.C.-based company today announced that it had achieved this final step in the process of selling its apple in the U.S. Approval previously came from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in 2021, and earlier this year from Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA).
OSF already is able to sell three varieties of non-browning apples in the U.S.: the Arctic Golden, the Arctic Granny and the Arctic Fiji.
These four specially developed apples are the only varieties that when sliced are capable of staying as fresh looking and tasting as fresh-picked fruit, according to the company.
The apples have been controversial.
About a dozen years ago, Okanagan farmers told BIV that they were afraid that their businesses and the reputation of B.C.’s fruit industry would be damaged if Ottawa approved GM apples developed by biotechnology entrepreneur and OSF CEO and co-founder Neal Carter.
Fear of the health effects of genetically modified fruit was rampant. Kirpal Boparai, who in 2012 farmed 70 acres of apples and was president of the British Columbia Fruit Growers’ Association (BCFGA), told BIV that CFIA approval would lead to contamination because bees flit between GM apple trees and organic apple trees.
Carter retorted that his genetic modifications were really "GM-light” because all he did was turn off an enzyme that causes apples to turn brown.
“We have not added any DNA from any new species," he said. "We’re taking something away by turning off an enzyme.”
Fears about GM foods are more pronounced when genes or attributes from fruits are added. Going back decades, consumer fears about GM foods were seeded in 1991, when DNA Plant Technologies engineered what it hoped would be a frost-resistant tomato because it contained a gene from a fish.
Other apple innovation in B.C. has come from cross-breeding.
The USDA in February 2015 deregulated OSF's GM Arctic Golden and Arctic Granny apples. That enabled American growers to purchase OSF apple trees to harvest the fruit.
The only thing that changed was that instead of having 45 shareholders, the company just had one, Carter told BIV in 2018.
An affiliate of Third Security, LLC then acquired OSF in 2019.
OSF has said that it plans to continue to expanding its portfolio of non-browning Arctic apple varieties to extend its reach and to meet evolving customer demands. Next on the horizon are apples branded Arctic Honey and Arctic Pink.
