• USA Today, Monday, October 12, 2009 10:42 AM

7-Eleven is testing a new plastic wrap developed by Fresh Del Monte Produce that purportedly keeps bananas yellow and firm for five days -- more than twice the current shelf life for bananas going au natural, according to produce actuarial tables.

By keeping most oxygen and moisture out, the wrap slows respiration and ripening.

Selling yellow bananas "is one small example of what we need to do to reinvent ourselves," says CEO Joseph DePinto. He expects to sell 27 million bananas this year, and the test in 27 locations around Dallas could extend to most of the chain's 5,787 stores by early 2010 if it's successful.

But Natural Resources Defense Council spokeswoman Jenny Powers says "there are better ways than adding a plastic wrapper around something that comes naturally wrapped in the first place." Realizing the environmental implications, 7-Eleven says it has asked Fresh Del Monte to come up with a wrapper that's biodegradable.

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