The Dutch C1000 supermarket chain has joined the Albert Heijn supermarkets in selling the hypoallergenic Santana apples. This broadens the market further for this unique apple. Wageningen UR hopes that more people with mild apple allergies will now be able to enjoy their daily apple.
Approximately 350,000 people in the Netherlands suffer from apple allergies and are therefore unable to enjoy this fruit. Research by Wageningen UR and the academic hospitals in Utrecht and Groningen has shown that a large part of this group is able to eat the Santana apple, without any problems.
Wageningen UR and the Dutch Food Allergy Foundation (Stichting VoedselAllergie) have therefore developed a protocol in cooperation with Santana farmers to offer the Santana safely and responsibly to the public as a hypoallergenic product. The apple is only intended for people with a mild apple allergy and comes with an information leaflet. This leaflet describes for whom the apple is intended and how this target group can safely try the Santana.
In 2006, Albert Heijn was the first to sell the Santana based on the developed protocol. Due to its success, these supermarkets will continue to sell the Santana apple as a hypoallergenic product. The C1000 supermarkets have just started selling the hypoallergenic apples.
The Santana has more benefits, being a tasty, crispy, juicy and hearty apple that everyone can enjoy. Surveys show that approximately one-third of Dutch people find the Santana to be tastier than the slightly sweeter Elstar or the even sweeter Jonagold. According to taste tests taken at the La Place restaurants, the (organically-grown) Santana is the best apple to use in their famous apple-nut pie.
Santana can also be grown in an environmentally-friendly way as it is not susceptible to apple scab, the primary disease threat faced by apple farmers in the Netherlands and abroad. Therefore, growing the Santana is a major step towards improving the environment. The Santana is available as an ‘organic’ apple in the Albert Heijn supermarkets and ‘ordinary’ apple in the C1000 supermarkets.
The Dutch Food Allergy Foundation provides information about the Santana promotion and its availability on its website www.stichtingvoedselallergie.nl (Dutch only).
Press release from PPO of Wageningen UR and the Dutch Food Allergy Foundation