(RNN) – A small company is willing to take the gamble that people will pay for an apple that doesn't turn brown, but initial reactions to the idea make it seem that roll of the dice may come up short.
Neal Carter, an apple grower and owner of Canadian company Okanagan Specialty Fruits, is marketing genetically engineered versions of apples. Compared to normal apples, OSF's "Arctic Apples" do not change color when sliced or bruised.
Carter is targeting his company's Arctic Apples toward a specialized market: people who prefer to munch on apple slices rather than biting right into the fruit.
He feels that a whole apple is "too big a commitment" for many people.
"If you had a bowl of apples at a meeting, people wouldn't take an apple out of the bowl," Carter said. "But if you had a plate of apple slices, everyone would take a slice."
Considering that marriages in the United States spoil at almost the same rate as apples, it would be interesting to see that theory applied to relationships.
Imagine such a striking future: People genetically engineered to believe in the permanence of wedding vows.
Whatever happened to good, old lemon juice? That's for apples, not for marriages. Although, if you were really creative … Never mind.
Carter, unsurprisingly, is having the most trouble getting past his first line of opposition – apple growers.
"We don't think it's in the best interest of the apple industry of the United States to have that product in the marketplace at this time," Christian Schlect, president of the Northwest Horticultural Council, told The New York Times.
Schlect's group represents growers in the Washington State area, who produce about 60 percent of the nation's crop.
OSF is also seeking to gain approval of its Arctic Apple in Canada.
That isn't going so well, either.
Lucy Sharratt, coordinator of the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network, made the argument that genetic engineering would essentially "turn the apple into an industrialized product."
Apples. Snack crackers. Microwave dinners. Something does not belong here.
Still, Carter maintains the "purity" of the apple, saying that the only change is killing the gene that produces the enzyme responsible for browning.
"The apple tree didn't change. We silenced an enzyme, and that's it," Carter said. "The tree grows the same way, it flowers the same way. It produces fruit at the same level. You would never be able to distinguish - unless you looked at the label, of course – which ones are Arctic Apples and which ones are not."
Copyright 2012 Raycom News Network. All rights reserved.
Arctic Apples, right, are pictured next to apples grown normally. A Canadian company is trying to get its genetically altered apples approved for consumption. (Source: Okanagan Specialty Fruits)
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