美国批准转基因苹果种植

Gene-Altered Apples Get U.S. Approval

美国批准转基因苹果种植

The government on Friday approved the commercial planting of genetically engineered apples that are resistant to turning brown when sliced or bruised.

周五，美国政府批准商业种植转基因苹果，这种苹果在切片或碰伤后不会变色。

The developer, Okanagan Specialty Fruits, says it believes the nonbrowning feature will be popular with both consumers and food service companies because it will make sliced apples more appealing. The feature could also reduce the number of apples discarded because of bruising.

研制者奥卡诺根特种蔬菜公司(Okanagan Specialty Fruits)说，它认为不会变色的特点将受到消费者和餐饮公司欢迎，因为它会让切片苹果更诱人。这一特点也能减少因碰伤而丢弃的苹果数量。

But many executives in the apple industry say they worry that the biotech apples, while safe to eat, will face opposition from some consumers, possibly tainting the wholesome image of the fruit that reputedly “keeps the doctor away.” They are also concerned that it could hurt exports of apples to countries that do not like genetically modified foods.

但是苹果行业的很多主管们说，他们担心，这种转基因苹果虽然可以安全食用，但是会受到一些消费者的抵制，可能会玷污这种水果有益健康、“令你远离疾病”的美名。他们还担心，它会损害向不喜欢转基因食物的国家的苹果出口。

“In the marketplace we participate in, there doesn’t seem to be room for genetically modified apples now,” said John Rice, co-owner of Rice Fruit Company in Gardners, Pa., which bills itself as the largest apple packer in the East.

“我们目前参与的市场中似乎没有转基因苹果的空间，”宾夕法尼亚州加德纳的大米水果公司(Rice Fruit Company)的联合所有者约翰·赖斯(John Rice)说。该公司自称是美国东部最大的苹果加工企业。

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.

周五，批准转基因苹果商业种植的美国农业部表示，它已考虑过这些问题。不过，它说，依照法律，是否批准取决于这种转基因作物是否会给其他植物造成威胁。农业部确定，这种苹果不会带来这样的风险。

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.

这种所谓的北极苹果将有澳洲青苹果(Granny Smith)和金冠苹果(Golden Delicious)两个种类。它的基因改造方法是抑制一种酶的产生。苹果细胞受伤(比如被切开)后，这种酶会导致苹果变色。

But over time the apples will still rot and turn brown. In November, the Agriculture Department approved a genetically engineered potato developed by the J.R. Simplot Company that uses a similar technique to prevent browning.

但是过一段时间，这种苹果还是会腐烂、变黄。去年11月，美国农业部批准了辛普洛特公司(J.R. Simplot Company)开发的一种转基因土豆，它使用的也是一种类似的防止变黑的技术。

The apple will join relatively few other examples of genetically modified fresh produce, including papaya and some sweet corn. Most of the genetically modified food Americans eat is processed, containing ingredients made from engineered corn or soybeans.

与转基因木瓜和甜玉米一样，这种苹果将成为少数几种转基因生鲜农产品之一。美国人食用的大部分转基因食品是加工食品，其中含有用转基因玉米或大豆做成的原料。

The engineered trait is also one of the few meant to appeal to consumers; most of the traits so far, like insect resistance and herbicide resistance, have been aimed at helping farmers.

这种转基因特性也是少数几种以吸引顾客为目的。迄今为止的大多数转基因特性，比如防蛀和抗除草剂，都是为了帮助农民。

The approval is also unusual in that Okanagan, which is based in Summerland, British Columbia, is a small company. Most genetically modified crops are developed by giant seed and chemical companies like Monsanto and DuPont Pioneer.

这次获批的另一个不同寻常之处在于奥卡诺根特种蔬菜公司是个小公司，位于不列颠哥伦比亚的萨默兰。大多数转基因作物是由大型种子和化学公司开发的，比如孟山都(Monsanto)和杜邦先锋(DuPont Pioneer)。

Neal Carter, the president of Okanagan, said the apple had “a lot of silent supporters” and would be popular with the food service business. “I can’t believe how many requests we’ve had just this morning to our website from people who want to buy trees,” he said. The roughly 45 investors in the privately held company include many people in the apple business, he said.

奥卡诺根特种蔬菜公司的总裁尼尔·卡特(Neal Carter)说，这种苹果有“很多默默的支持者”，它将受到餐饮服务企业的欢迎。“我不敢相信仅今天上午我们网站就收到很多想要购买这种苹果树的请求，”他说。他说，这家私人控股公司的约45名投资者中有很多来自苹果行业。

It will take a few years for Arctic apples to be widely available because trees have to first be planted and then become mature enough to bear fruit.

要过几年时间，北极苹果才会大量上市，因为苹果树要先种好，然后成熟挂果。

Mr. Carter said that four growers would plant a total of 20,000 trees this spring, covering a mere 20 acres or so. From 5,000 to 10,000 pounds of apples are expected to be ready by the fall of 2016, enough to provide samples to food service companies and other potential buyers. The product could reach stores, in very small quantities, in 2017, he said.

卡特说，今年春天，将有四名种植者在区区20英亩左右的土地上种植两万棵苹果树。预计到2016年秋季，将结出五千至一万磅苹果，足够给餐饮公司和其他潜在购买者提供样品。他说，2017年，商店里可能会少量供应这种苹果。

Documents released by the Agriculture Department on Friday suggest the decision to approve was essentially made last May. Mr. Carter said he thought political factors had kept the approval from being announced. He said the company, which had initially requested approval in 2010, finally became so frustrated that it wrote a pointed letter to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack last month.

美国农业部周五公布的文件表明，批准决定实际上是去年5月做出的。卡特说，他认为是政治原因导致该批准迟迟未能公布。他说，这家公司最初是在2010年提出申请的，最后变得非常沮丧，所以上个月给农业部长汤姆·维尔萨克(Tom Vilsack)写了一封措辞尖锐的信。

A spokesman for the Agriculture Department said it took time to analyze the issues and all the comments received. There were two public comment periods that together drew more than 175,000 comments, the overwhelming majority opposed to approval.

农业部的一位发言人说，分析这些问题和收到的所有评论需要时间。总共有两个公众评论期，共收到17.5万多条评论，绝大多数反对批准。

Consumer and environmental groups, who say that genetically modified crops in general are not thoroughly tested for safety, were highly critical of the decision on Friday.

周五，多个消费者和环境保护组织强烈批评这项决定，他们认为转基因作物的安全性总体来说没有得到彻底检视。

“This G.M.O. apple is simply unnecessary,” Wenonah Hauter, executive director of Food & Water Watch, said in a statement, using the initials for “genetically modified organism.” “Apple browning is a small cosmetic issue that consumers and the industry have dealt with successfully for generations.”

“这种转基因苹果毫无必要，”食品与水观察组织(Food & Water Watch)的执行理事韦诺娜·豪特(Wenonah Hauter)在一项声明中说，“苹果变色是个很小的外观问题，消费者和苹果行业很久以前已成功解决了这个问题。”

(Putting lemon juice or another source of vitamin C on apple slices can retard browning, though Okanagan argues that affects the taste.)

(在苹果切片上撒上柠檬汁或别的含维生素C的东西能延缓苹果变色，不过奥卡诺根公司认为，那会影响口味。)

The environmental groups have been pressing food companies to reject the Arctic apples. McDonald’s and Gerber have sent letters saying they had no plans to use the apples. The groups also renewed their call for genetically modified foods to be labeled as such.

很多环保组织敦促食品公司拒绝北极苹果。麦当劳和格伯食品公司(Gerber)已发表公开信，称他们没有计划使用这种苹果。这些组织还再次呼吁转基因食品做出明确标识。

Mr. Carter said apples would be labeled as Arctic, with links to the company’s website, so consumers could figure out that the fruit was engineered. He said it would discuss with the Food and Drug Administration whether the apples would also be labeled as nonbrowning. But he said that labeling the fruit as genetically modified would only be “demonizing” it.

卡特说，这种苹果将被标明是北极苹果，并标明该公司的网址，这样消费者就能知道这种水果是经过基因改造的。他说，该公司将与美国食品和药物管理局讨论是否也要标明不变色。但是他说，标明这种水果是转基因只会把它“妖魔化”。

The nonbrowning effect is not created by putting genes from another species into the apple’s DNA, which is the case with most genetically altered crops. Instead, the apple’s own genes are manipulated in a way that turns off the browning mechanism.

与大部分转基因作物不同，这种苹果不变色的效果不是通过把其他物种的基因放入这种苹果的DNA中来实现的。相反，它是通过控制这种苹果自己的基因来抑制变色过程。

Okanagan is still engaged in a voluntary consultation with the F.D.A. over the safety of the apple. Consumer groups say shutting off the browning mechanism could have unintended effects. But the Agriculture Department said the Arctic apples seemed to be nutritionally equivalent to other apples.

奥卡诺根公司仍在主动与美国食品和药物管理局商讨这种苹果的安全性。消费者保护组织称，抑制变色机制可能产生始料未及的结果。但是农业部称，北极苹果的营养似乎与其他苹果是一样的。

While many in the apple industry had opposed the approval, some now say they will work to ensure that consumers know most apples are not modified and even the ones that are modified are safe.

虽然苹果行业的很多人曾反对这项批准，但是现在有些人说他们仍将努力让消费者知道大多数苹果不是转基因的，甚至连那些转基因苹果也是安全的。