Supermarkets have a new superfood: nutrition-packed purple tomatoes, thanks to biotech.
The innovation: Norfolk Healthy Produce’s tomatoes include two genes from a snapdragon to make them rich in anthocyanins, antioxidants found in blackberries and blueberries. The resulting cherry tomatoes are purple throughout.
Why it matters: Anthocyanins have been shown to help prevent cancer, inflammatory diseases, and type 2 diabetes. Cancer-susceptible mice fed on the anthocyanin-rich tomatoes lived 30% longer than the control group, according to a 2008 paper co-written by the tomato’s developer.
How we got here: The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) greenlit the tomatoes in September 2022, followed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last June.
Sprucing up your summer salads: Stores in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic U.S., including certain Food City and Lidl stores in Virginia and Food Lion stores in North Carolina, are selling the tomato, according to last week’s announcement.
Enhancing consumer acceptance: U.S. surveys show 80% of respondents would be interested in eating the purple tomato “knowing that it uses plant-based bioengineering,” Norfolk reports. More than 13,000 home gardeners purchased seeds made available in time for spring planting this year.
What they’re saying: “Consumers looking for something better and different, enabled with science,” now have a new option, says Nathan Pumplin, CEO of Norfolk Healthy Produce.
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