In a bid to make fresh fruit more appealing, Goulburn Valley has setup a marketing campain to launch a new sliced apple product in Sydney.
The Goulburn Valley "Fresh'' sliced Australian red and green apples, with additives calcium ascorbate and calcium chloride, is sold in a recyclable plastic bag for $2 or $5.99 for a bag of four.
Nutritionist Susie Burrell said it was yet another indication about how time-poor society has become.
"The two additives are simply to stop the fruit going brown and to keep the apple crunchy they are pretty basic additives and not linked to allergic reactions,'' Ms Burrell said.
"While having the apple chopped already will potentially lose some of the active compounds, such as antioxidants, for young children and boys who are less likely to eat fruit unless it is chopped up for them, this is a reasonable way to boost their intake of fresh fruit especially at school when squashed fruit is common.''
Goulburn Valley surveyed more than 1500 people and a third admitted eating just one piece of fruit or less per day because most found it too boring or too messy.
Nicki Anderson, of SPC Ardmona, the company behind the new product, said it was a convenient way to contribute to the two recommended servings of fruit a day, especially via school lunchboxes and was better than a bag of chips.
McDonald's has offered a similar product, manufactured under a different process, for several years.
