Apple Sales in Apple Pie Order

WASHINGTON —  People ate more apples last year than ever despite bad publicity about chemicals used by growers and a slight decline in overall consumption of fresh fruit, Agriculture Department figures showed today.

The department’s Economic Research Service said that a large apple crop and low prices combined to push per capita consumption to 21.6 pounds in 1989 from 19.87 pounds in 1988.

“Bananas and apples continued to be the two most popular fresh fruits in the United States,” the service said.

Overall, fresh fruit consumption dropped 2% last year to an average of 96.6 pounds per person.

Apple growers feared the worst in March, 1989, when the Natural Resources Defense Council said that apples treated with Alar increased the risk of cancer in children.