The common Del Monte Gold pineapple (right) stands in stark contrast to its close cousin, the Pink Glow (aka Rosé), a GMO version introduced in 2020. Del Monte’s plant breeders genetically engineered a Del Monte Gold pineapple to increase the level of lycopene, an antioxidant believed to reduce the risk of some cancers and lower cholesterol. It also gives the fruit a sweeter taste, less acid, and its patented pink glow. The pineapples were originally sold for a staggering $49 each, although their price has fallen to around $10, about twice the price of the Del Monte Gold. Critics argue it amounts to little more than a novelty, designed more to benefit Del Monte’s bottom line than human health. But it’s generated far less opposition than an earlier GMO designed to do just that. In 2000
plant geneticists introduced Golden Rice, a vitamin-A-enriched variety that promised to eradicate vitamin A deficiency, a scourge of the developing world that leads to blindness, anemia, and early death, and afflicts an estimated 30 percent of the world’s children under age five. Twenty years of intense opposition and lawsuits from anti-GMO activists, as well as poor yields, have kept that promise unfulfilled. Only the Philippines has approved Golden Rice for widespread use, though opposition to it among farmers there remains strong.
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- George Steinmetz
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- www.georgesteinmetz.com
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