USDA Extends Nonbrowning Apple Variety Comment Period

Arctic Apple logoThe USDA has extended the second comment period on Arctic Golden and Arctic Granny apples, two nonbrowning varieties produced through biotechnology by Okanagan Specialty Fruits Inc. (OSF). The USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is seeking public comments on their Environmental Assessment (EA) and Plant Pest Risk Assessment (PPRA).

Advertisement

The comments will be accepted through Jan. 30 on the USDA APHIS’s regulatory assessment of the two varieties. This is the second of two U.S. comment periods on these nonbrowning apples. OSF’s Arctic apples are among the first ag-biotech products to undergo this recently enhanced regulatory process, which did not previously include a second opportunity to comment.

The first comment period began when APHIS made OSF’s Petition for Determination of Nonregulated Status available July 13, 2012, in the Federal Register, and successfully concluded Sept. 11, 2012. According to a news release on Okanagan Specialty Fruits Inc.’s website, USDA deregulation is expected later this year.

Arctic Apples use gene silencing to suppress the apple’s expression of polyphenol oxidase (PPO), the enzyme involved in browning when the fruit is bruised, bitten, or cut. This virtually eliminates PPO production, so in turn the fruit doesn’t brown. Arctic Golden and Arctic Granny are just the first nonbrowning varieties; any apple variety can be transformed this way. Test orchards were planted in 2003 and 2005 in Washington state and New York state, two of the chief apple growing areas in the U.S.

Source: USDA

Top Articles
Have a Plan For Climate Change? Why Fruit Growers Need To Act Now

0