Australia Considers Approving GM Purple Tomatoes for Sale

As reported by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Food Standards Australia New Zealand has accepted an application from Norfolk Healthy Produce — a U.S. biotech company based in Davis, California — to grow and sell genetically modified purple tomatoes in Australia. If approved, the tomatoes could enter the market as early as next year.

The tomatoes, trademarked under the name The Purple Tomato, contain two genes from edible snapdragon flowers, enabling them to produce natural anthocyanins when ripe. Anthocyanins are antioxidants found in various deeply colored fruits and vegetables, including blueberries, cherries, grapes and eggplants. The purple tomato variety — the result of 18 years of research and development — has been on sale in the United States for the past two years. Last year, Norfolk Healthy Produce sold over 100,000 boxes in retail stores and 13,000 seed packets to home gardeners. The company is now expanding internationally, with a focus on the Australian and Canadian markets.

Australian consumers have traditionally been very cautious about genetically modified products, and the country maintains strict regulations on crop cultivation. Up until now, only genetically modified canola, cotton, safflower, Indian mustard, carnations and a disease-resistant banana strain have been approved for cultivation. The banana strain, engineered for resistance to Panama disease tropical race 4, took approximately 12 months to gain approval and is currently undergoing trials in northern and southeastern Queensland, with commercial planting expected to begin later this year.

Image: Norfolk Healthy Produce

This article was based on a Chinese article. Read the original article.