One poster asked for further information on cold storage apples. Like
most other fruits, apples have a definite season and ripen generally in
Fall in the Northern hemisphere. The fruit is picked, processed, and
packed, then stored in cold storage until it is eventually shipped to
market.

Processing for apples includes waxing (some produce waxes are animal
based; most are synthetic or petroleum based) and fumigation. The apples
are then kept under cold storage: carefully regulated temperature and
humidity. The fruit may be held for months; in some cases it may be
held in storage for more than a year! If apples were sold only in
season, they would be available for a few months of the year, then
be unavailable (except for opposite season imports from Southern
hemisphere producers) until next season. Instead, they are available
year round, the result of cold storage practices.

Once shipped to market, cold storage apples have a short shelf life and
will spoil rapidly if not refrigerated. The long term storage also
removes most of their flavor and reduces the nutrient content. Some
people refer to cold storage apples as apple-flavored cardboard, a
negative but fairly accurate view.

The best apples are fresh apples: what is referred to as new crop (to
distinguish them from the stale cold-storage apples) and current crop
that was picked recently. Because much of the apple crop from Washington
state is cold-storage, this writer refuses to purchase Washington apples
except for new crop. Instead I purchase California apples, or ABW apples.
(ABW = anything but Washington). I also buy them *only* if they are in
season (prefer new crop when available).

Tom Billings
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