USDA Approves First GMO Apple For Planting

Adding another genetically modified food to the growing list of biotech creations, the USDA has now approved the first GMO apple for commercial planting inside the United States. Slated for your dinner table, the new GMO apple is reportedly ‘resistant to turning brown when sliced or bruised.’

Coming just months after the USDA approved the first genetically modified potato, the news reminds us of the USDA’s declaration to give Monsanto and other biotech organizations ‘speedy approval’ when it comes to approving genetically modified foods. In other words, less testing and more rubber stamping.

According to the New York Times, the USDA ‘considered the issues’ over the new GMO apple (including the intense opposition), writing:

“The Department of Agriculture, which approved the apples for commercial planting, said on Friday that it had considered these issues. However, it said that under the law, approval is based on whether a genetically modified crop poses a threat to other plants. The department determined that the apples posed no such risk…. The so-called Arctic apples — which will be available in the Granny Smith and Golden Delicious varieties — are genetically engineered in a way to suppress the production of an enzyme that causes browning when cells in the apple are injured, from slicing, for example.”

The good news? You may actually be able to identify these GMO apples by their sale name ‘Arctic’ — or perhaps an FDA-approved label that they are considered ‘non-browning.’ An indicator that we have not yet seen with genetically modified foods — and for good reason. After all, no one would actually purchase GMO foods (including the new GMO apple) if they carried an appropriate label.

Why do you think over 96% of Monsanto shareholders are against GMO labeling?

This news comes as both a surprise and an expected announcement. As the USDA continues to roll through GMO products into the dining rooms of consumers nationwide, it’s less and less of a shock as every staple food becomes modified by mega biotech — and the time is now to demand real testing and action. Or at least answers as to why the US State Department is paying for Monsanto’s marketing materials like DVDs and threatening other countries who reject their GMO crops.

Would you eat a GMO apple?

Post written byNatural Society: Natural Society staff contribution