The first genetically modified (GM) food to go on sale was a tomato grown in the US in 1994. Since then many GM crops have been created, including corn, cotton, potatoes and pink pineapple.
GM foods still have a bad reputation, yet there are good reasons why changing a genome can be useful. It can make plants more resistant to disease, for example.
Crops are also modified to make them more nutritious. Take golden rice, developed with extra vitamin A to fight deficiency in poor countries where rice is the staple food.
Many GM foods have been developed since 1994, but only a small share reach stores. There are two reasons: public distrust of GM products and the reluctance of governments in several countries to let them on the market. So scientists saw the US approval of purple tomatoes in September 2022 as an exception to the rule.
For 14 years, a research team at the John Innes Centre in Norfolk, England, worked on a purple tomato with high levels of anthocyanins.
Anthocyanins are found in many fruits and vegetables with red, purple or blue flesh or skin, such as blueberries, strawberries, eggplant and red cabbage. To make the tomato purple, the scientists added snapdragon genes to the tomato genome.
The result was an unusual vegetable, and its color is only part of the story. Purple GM tomatoes contain as much anthocyanin as blueberries. That concentration doubles their shelf life compared with red tomatoes, because anthocyanins slow overripening and make the fruit less vulnerable to fungi after harvest.
High anthocyanin content has another benefit: it attracts pollinating insects, which improves reproduction and yields. Anthocyanins also protect crops from ultraviolet radiation and pathogens, which helps the plants grow and develop. Whether a tomato like this reaches a Ukrainian shelf, and under which label, is now decided by the GMO law in force since September 16, 2026.
