Canadian Biotech Company Pushes US Department of Agriculture to Approve Genetically Modified Apples

Okanagan Specialty Fruits (OSF), a British Columbian biotechnology company, is petitioning the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to approve a genetically-modified (GM) variety of apple that the company says does not brown after being sliced. The company licensed the technology from Australian researchers who have already used it in potatoes to eliminate the browning enzyme. The current request marks the first time a company has sought approval for GM apples.

Though the company says the technology will lower the cost of producing sliced apple products like the ones now sold at many grocers and fast-food restaurants, it has not been determined that the GM apples are actually safe for human consumption, even though Neal Carter, president of OSF, insists they are safe for humans and the environment.'

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