USDA reopens comment period for genetically modified apple
WASHINGTON,
Dec. 31, 2013 – A new year, a new chance for the public to comment on the
controversial genetically engineered Arctic Apple. USDA’s Animal and Plant
Health Inspection Service (APHIS) today announced the apple’s plant pest risk
assessment and draft environmental assessment will be reopened for public
comment through Jan. 30.
In a
letter to stakeholders, APHIS said it was reopening the comment period “due to
numerous request for additional time to prepare and submit comments.” Theoriginal deadline was Dec. 9.
APHIS
officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The apple,
engineered to resist browning by Canadian company Okanagan Specialty Fruits
Inc. (OSF), has received the thumbs-up from U.S. government scientists. In
November, APHIS recommended two varieties of the apple (Arctic Golden and
Arctic Granny) be granted non-regulation status.
APHIS concluded in
its environmental assessment that the non-browning apples “have the potential
to improve fruit processing capabilities for maintain the quality and shelf
life of apples.”
While an OSF
spokesman predicted earlier this month that the apple would receive approval in
early 2014 and could appear on grocery shelves in fall 2015, it is unclear
whether this new comment period will lengthen the approval timeline. OSF
President Neal Carter said today he still expected a final decision on
deregulation “in early 2014."
“We are pleased
that the public will continue to have ample opportunity to review APHIS' risk
assessments, both of which show our nonbrowning apples are just as safe for the
environment as any other apple,” Carter said in a statement.
But the apple has received
flak from a group of strange political bedfellows.
Anti-biotechnology
groups have claimed the apple could have adverse affects on human health. Other
opponents say consumers would no longer be able to determine the apple’s
freshness due to its non-browning properties.
The U.S. Apple Association also initially said it was
against the approval of the non-browning apple – though not because the group
believes the product is unsafe, stressed Wendy Brannen, director of consumer
health and public affairs.
Instead, the group
said it doubted “the consumer demand was there for those (non-browning)
attributes.”
Now that approval
seems more likely, however, Brannen says the Arctic apple's success “will
become a matter of consumer choice.”
This article was
updated at 12:50 PM.
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