SOME of the country’s bestselling apples are being treated with a chemical that enables them to be stored for a year before going on sale in supermarkets and grocery stores.

The chemical, 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) allows producers to put apples in cold storage for months before they are shipped to Britain. Its manufacturer says it is designed to enhance the taste of an apple, but confirms that it also significantly prolongs shelf life.

Food experts who want supermarkets to sell more locally sourced seasonal produce say the chemical’s use should be labelled on fruit, which may be several months old.

Tim Lang, professor of food policy at City University, London, said: “The golden rule is that ‘good food goes bad’ and if it doesn’t you have to ask what has been done to it.

“This is a brilliant, but surreal, use of science. They are using technology to play around with the seasons, and the food may look fresh but it isn’t. The problem is that companies don’t tell us this is being done.”

1-MCP was developed at North Carolina State University and is now marketed by the Philadelphia-based company Agro-Fresh. The chemical, sold as SmartFresh and applied in gas form when the apples are in cold storage, inhibits the production of ethylene, a natural ripening agent that softens the fruit.

Eric Patrick, marketing director of Domex, an American fruit producer that exports to British supermarkets, said: “We use it on almost all our produce. It keeps the fruit tasting better for a longer period of time and has extended our export season by a couple of months. It has given us the confidence to say these Red Delicious apples tastes good in July or August as they did when they were harvested in October.”

The nutrient levels in fruit are at their highest at harvest and slowly decline during storage. However, the use of 1-MCP in a controlled atmosphere is said to help minimise any loss in nutritional content.

SmartFresh was approved for use in the European Union this year, although concerns were expressed about very low levels of impurities in the compound that have been shown to be carcinogenic in animals.

AgroFresh says SmartFresh has been approved for use in several countries and is used in such small amounts that it is not even detectable on the fruit.

British apple suppliers say it is common to have “year-old” apples in US shops but only a small number of apples older than six months are sold in the UK because supermarkets prefer seasonal produce. However, Sainsbury’s confirmed its apples were treated with SmartFresh. “We do spray this chemical on a small number of varieties. It is to improve quality and return for our suppliers and growers,” it said.

Other supermarkets were not able to confirm whether they used SmartFresh.

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