Just how old are apples in the store? Here's how apples get from the orchard to your supermarket.
Here’s the Gross Truth About the Apples You’re Buying at the Supermarket
Updated on May 26, 2025
You can’t go wrong with apples, right? They’re great for you and tasty, and apples have surprising uses that don’t involve eating them. What’s not to love? Well … hold that thought. It turns out that this classic fruit has a secret, and it has to do with its age. How old are apples in the store? Once you start thinking about it, you might not be able to stop.
Apples are sold year round, so barring a shortage you can buy an apple any time you want. But if you know anything about apple trees, you know that the fruit is in season for a short time only. What gives? The path from the tree to your mouth is not quite as direct as you think.
Reader’s Digest gets to the bottom of this little-known apple secret. How old are apples in the store? Keep reading to learn the truth.
Get Reader’s Digest’s Read Up newsletter for more knowledge, humor, travel, tech and fun facts all week long.
How old are apples in the store?
It depends on when you buy them, but they could be up to 10 months old. Apples are only harvested once a year, from about August to November. That’s it. So if you’re eating an apple in winter, spring or summer, and that apple came from the grocery store, it was picked the previous fall.
How do the apples keep from rotting?
It’s all about maintaining the perfect temperature and oxygen levels, and that depends on when the apples will be sold. If apples are destined for the supermarket immediately after harvest, growers either ship them directly or store them at temperatures between 34 and 38 degrees. (That’s about the same temp as your fridge.) For apples that will be sold during the harvest season, this keeps them fresh until they get shipped to the grocery store.
Apples that need to last until the next harvest season go into a special refrigeration state called controlled atmosphere storage, or CA. Here, growers drop the oxygen level down to between 1% and 3% depending on the variety. (Normal air has about 21% oxygen.) Temperature, humidity and carbon dioxide levels are also strictly monitored. This keeps the apples from ripening until they’re ready to ship; some growers call it “putting them to sleep.”
About 40% of the U.S. apple crop will be sold before December 1, according to the nonprofit apple growers’ trade association USApple. These are typically shipped right to grocery stores or briefly refrigerated. The other 60% will have longer cold storage or go into CA.
Are they still OK to eat?
Yes, apples sold year-round in the grocery store are completely safe. Apples that are stored for 6 months or more can have a reduced flavor profile, according to the University of Maryland Extension, but the nutritional content is unaffected.
And even if the idea of eating a nearly year-old apple doesn’t sound all that appealing, think about the alternative: no apples! Before CA breakthroughs in the 1930s, apple-eating season only lasted until spring—or as long as the last-harvested apple crop stayed fresh. Because of CA, we can buy apples anytime we want.
Why trust us
At Reader’s Digest, we’re committed to producing high-quality content by writers with expertise and experience in their field in consultation with relevant, qualified experts. We rely on reputable primary sources, including government and professional organizations and academic institutions as well as our writers’ personal experiences where appropriate. We verify all facts and data, back them with credible sourcing and revisit them over time to ensure they remain accurate and up to date. Read more about our team, our contributors and our editorial policies.
Sources:
- NPR: “Thanks To Science, You Can Eat An Apple Every Day”
- University of Maryland Extension: “Controlled Atmosphere Storage of Apples”
- USApple: “Apple Storage Backgrounder”
