The USDA is accepting public comments on the deregulation of an apple tree genetically engineered to prevent the flesh of the apple from turning brown.  As usual, assessments of the risks to human health, especially children’s health, are utterly lacking and little is known about how the GE apple will interact with the environment.

This is the first GE fruit tree that is to be widely grown and eaten. There are concerns about the silencing of a whole gene family with unknown functions (suspected to be involved in defense against pests and pathogens), inadequate testing of susceptibility to pests and pathogens in the tree and the fruit, and other issues. There is no attempt to prevent gene flow–this apple will pollinate freely.

Please submit comments to the USDA regarding your thoughts on their approval of this GE apple.

The Petition for Non-regulated Status, Draft Environmental Assessment, Draft Plant Pest Risk Assessment and Notice are all here:

https://www.aphis.usda.gov/biotechnology/petitions_table_pending.shtml

Submit pdfs of comments to:

https://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=APHIS-2012-0025-1938