What about the Gateway GMO Food article on Prevention.com on the Artic Apple and cross contamination which would void any real studies. And secondary are you saying GMOs have nothing to do with Uterine cancer?

Expert response from Community Manager

Moderator for GMOAnswers.com

Monday, 31/08/2015 18:27

Thank you for your questions. Your first question concerns cross-contamination of Arctic Apples with non-GMO apple crops. We believe that you are referring to this Prevention.com article by Marygrace Taylor: The Gateway GMO Food? Meet the GMO Food ambassador – the Arctic Apple.

Key Facts on Arctic Apples and Cross-Contamination 

Neal Carter, President & Founder of Okanagan Specialty Fruits, which developed the non-browning apple, responded to a similar question on GMO Answers. You can read the full response here. Here are some key points from Neil’s response:

“We are happy to share that our biotech-enhanced, non-browning Arctic apples will have no impact whatsoever on your ability to purchase organic apples, nor will they impact any consumer’s ability to choose whatever variety and production method they prefer.

“This is due to a number of factors, chief among them the fact that even if Arctic apples were to cross-pollinate with a neighboring orchard, the resulting fruit would not be affected. As a comparison, consider that orchards typically have different varieties growing next to each other, yet a Fuji does not become a Gala when cross-pollination occurs, and, similarly, other varieties will not become ‘Arctic.’

“While cross-pollination can sometimes result in some of the resulting seeds containing Arctic material, apple seeds are not consumed, nor are they used for commercial apple orchard propagation. Instead, apple orchards (including organic) are propagated via grafting, rather than seeds, which allows growers to better provide consistent, quality fruit—another triumph of agricultural innovation!

“It’s also worth noting that because apples are pollinated by bees, rather than by the wind, the likelihood of cross-pollination is much lower than with many other crops. Additionally, stewardship standards like hive placement, buffer rows and tree placement can all further reduce the chances of cross-pollination.”

Are Arctic Apples safe to eat?

Yes, Arctic Apples are just as safe to eat as their non-GMO and organic apple counterparts. Neil Carter adds:

“Arctic apples have been rigorously tested for everything from nutritional content to their response to pests (and cross-pollination issues as well!) and, other than their nonbrowning attribute, have proven to be just the same as their conventional counterparts with no unique risks. We have simply silenced the production of the enzyme that drives the browning process (polyphenol oxidase) using apple genes, and Arctic fruit contains no new proteins.”

Steve Savage also discusses Arctic Apples and cross-contamination is this Biofortified post: “Will Organic Apples be re-defined as “Contaminated?”

“The ‘contamination’ scenario is based on the potential movement of pollen from flowers of the Arctic Apples to apple flowers in organic orchards.  It is useful to consider this from a biological perspective.

“… If Arctic Apples are commercialized in BC (or anywhere), there might be some small percentage of seeds in other varieties that would be pollinated by a bee that moved between the two types of orchards.  As with the crab apples, but at a vastly lower incidence, there will be the DNA from the arctic apple, a tiny part of which has been changed to prevent expression of the apple genes for browning. 

“Someone would have to intentionally sample lots of apple seed using very sensitive lab techniques to find this.  If that sort of DNA in seeds is redefined as ‘contamination,’ then all apples are contaminated with the DNA from a different apple variety or a crabapple.”

If you would like to learn more about GMOs and cross-contamination, we recommend reading Are GMOs contaminating organic food crops?

Do GMOs cause uterine cancer?

Numerous questions similar to this and related topics have been submitted to GMO Answers about cancer, including questions about reports claiming that glyphosate causes breast cancer and about a Séralini study (now retracted) claiming GMOs caused cancer in rats, among others.

Dr. Kevin Folta, at the University of Florida, answered this question. His response is below. 

“The short answer is no, there is absolutely zero reputable evidence that GMO foods cause cancer.

“Cancer is a name applied to a spectrum of diseases where cells proliferate abnormally. There is no way that the subtle and well-understood alterations of a plant’s genes can cause cancer. There is nothing about the Bt protein (used in insect resistance, also in organic pest control), the EPSPS enzyme (which confers herbicide resistance simply by substituting for the native enzyme in the plant) or the process itself that would induce such cellular changes in human cells that would lead to cancer. It is just not plausible. 

“Some of the confusion comes from reports where the Bt protein or glyphosate (the herbicide used on some GM crops) is applied to cell lines in a petri dish, and the cells show changes associated with stress and perhaps abnormal proliferation. However, cells in a dish do not behave like cells in the body. Through years of careful evaluation, there is no reliable evidence that GM foods cause the same changes in a living organism.

“Quite to the contrary, future plants may be engineered to produce nutrients that fight/prevent cancer or even eliminate compounds that increase cancer risk. One such product is close to commercialization. Potatoes produce a small amount of acrylamide, a potential carcinogen, when heated to high temperatures. A potato has been engineered not to produce that compound, and that leads to safer food.”

If you feel that your questions have not been answered, or if you have additional questions, please ask.