More Schools Ban Apples in Concern Over Chemical

Officials of school districts around the state, including San Francisco and Sacramento, said Monday that they have pulled apples and apple products from their lunch menus because of spreading concerns over children ingesting daminozide, a chemical some growers use to treat the fruit.

Monday’s announcements followed earlier apple bans by the nation’s two largest districts--Los Angeles Unified and New York City schools.

Other districts reporting Monday that they have banned the fruit include Compton Unified, which took apples off the menu Friday, and Charter Oak School District, serving Covina and Glendora, which eliminated apples from school lunches two weeks ago.

Most of the districts have said they suspended serving the fruit pending results, expected perhaps as early as today, from the state Department of Health Services, which is testing apple products used in schools for the presence of daminozide.

The chemical, suspected of causing cancer, is used to slow the ripening of apples and improve their appearance. It is produced by Uniroyal Chemical Co. and marketed mainly under the brand name Alar.

State and federal officials have been meeting virtually nonstop since last week to make a determination of Alar’s health risks. Ken Kizer, director of the state Department of Health Services, is scheduled to report his staff’s finding at a Los Angeles press conference today.

Richard Farrar, director of food services for the San Francisco Unified School District, said, “We thought it prudent to follow the Los Angeles school district’s example.” Apples already purchased will be stored until test results are known.

Delois McDuffie, director of food services for the Sacramento City Unified School District, said, “Today we took apples and apple products off the menu as a precautionary measure.”

McDuffie said the district will reconsider the ban after government tests are complete.

New York City schools serve nearly one million students. Los Angeles Unified is next with nearly 600,000. San Francisco City schools have more than 60,000 students; Sacramento City Unified has 45,000.

Meanwhile, farmers, importers, retailers, food processors and bakers are concerned about the effect of the schools’ banning all apples, even though the chemical now is used on less than 5% of the nation’s apple crop.

Many supermarkets and other retailers have stopped selling apple products containing Alar. Major supermarket chains such as Vons, Lucky, Ralphs and Safeway have posted signs in their stores informing customers that they have ordered suppliers to certify that apples are not treated with Alar.

Pediatricians have offered conflicting advice. Some recommend that parents stop buying apples, while others say they believe that apples are safe.

So far, there has been no evidence of the boycott spreading beyond schools to businesses and other groups.

Despite the school districts’ actions, state Supt. of Public Instruction Bill Honig said Monday, “We’re taking the situation seriously, (but) there is no evidence that it’s a problem in California.”

Honig said the use of Alar on apples and apple products is “not anywhere near” the problem of lead-contaminated drinking fountains in schools.

However, he was not critical of districts that have eliminated apples from school vending machines and lunch menus.

“I understand that districts are caught in the middle. . . . And with Los Angeles (Unified) doing it (banning apples), it makes it tougher for other districts” to keep serving the fruit, Honig said.

At Carpenter Avenue School in Los Angeles on Monday, cafeteria manager Eleanor Muscarella awaited the arrival of a district truck to pick up 2 1/2 boxes, or about 450 apples, caught in last week’s ban.

The action was defended by Los Angeles School Board member Julie Korenstein, who heads a board committee that oversees district food services. There is “no question” that the district’s decision to stop serving fresh apples and apple products was warranted, Korenstein said.

“We cannot take any chances,” she said. “There is no question that we will stop purchasing (apples) until we have the answer that they are not a danger to our children.”

The Los Angeles district is offering oranges, pears and tangerines instead of apples.

Lunches Without Apples

Some Carpenter students who were interviewed Monday said they would miss apples in their school lunches. Several students, such as fifth-grader Neda Partori, said their parents already have stopped packing the fruit in their lunches.

But others said they were glad to be rid of apples.

“I hate ‘em,” said Kathy Faustino, 9, as she peeled the bright orange tangerine that came with the hot dog, french fries and chocolate milk served in the school cafeteria Monday.

There has been confusion surrounding Alar since the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said nearly four years ago that it would recommend banning use of the chemical on food but later backed off and said it is reviewing test data on the chemical.

Last month, the nonprofit Natural Resources Defense Council issued a report saying that children, with lower body weight, are particularly at risk from Alar.

A broadcast on CBS-TV’s “60 Minutes,” summarizing the council’s findings, helped fuel concern over Alar. Children eat proportionately more apples and apple products than do the adults on whom the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and EPA determined maximum allowable limits--20 parts per million.

Despite actions by a growing number of school districts, officials at several districts have said they are confident that their apples and apple products are free of Alar.

Long Beach school administrators said, for example, that they have been assured by suppliers that their apples contain no Alar.