We might ask, "What color is the apple?" We definitely don't answer, "If white light shines on this apple, I will perceive what I have been told is the sensation of redness." No, we just say the apple "is" red, even though red isn't a real physical state but a sensation.

It's even worse than that, for when we say the apple is red, we are describing the light it reflects, not the light it absorbs, so the apple is actually anything but red.

The red photons are exactly those energy exchanges that are not needed to maintain the physical structure of the apple itself!