Genetically modified Purple Bliss tomatoes have cleared regulatory approvals in Australia, allowing them to be sold as a fresh product and raising the prospect that they could become the first genetically modified fresh food available in Australian retail stores.
The Purple Bliss tomatoes were developed by Norfolk Healthy Produce and derive their purple colour from genes taken from snapdragon flowers. The modification enables the tomatoes to produce anthocyanins, pigments also found in blueberries and blackberries.
In January, Food Standards Australia New Zealand approved the tomatoes for sale as whole fresh fruit and for use as an ingredient in processed foods such as sun-dried tomatoes or pastes. Products containing the tomatoes must be labelled as genetically modified.
A separate licence issued by Australia's Gene Technology Regulator allows the tomatoes to be grown in Australia in the same way as conventional varieties. The regulator concluded that the release posed "negligible risk to the health and safety of people or the environment" and did not impose additional management conditions.
The Purple Bliss tomato is the second genetically modified food approved in Australia that is expected to be grown and marketed as a whole product. A genetically modified banana was approved in 2024 but has not yet been made available for sale.
The tomatoes are cherry-sized and deep purple. Travis Murphy, managing director of All Aussie Farmers, which holds the licence to grow and distribute the tomatoes in Australia, said: "You can just eat them straight as they are, or use them as you would any normal cherry tomato in salads. If you really wanted to use them in sauce, you could do that and turn your sauce purple."
Murphy said the tomatoes were developed with nutrition in mind. "You're basically looking at a blueberry in tomato clothes," he said.
According to Murphy, plans are in place to supply Victorian fruit shops around spring, followed by distribution in New South Wales and Queensland. Purple tomatoes are already available on the U.S. market.
Consumer response remains mixed. Professor Natalina Zlatevska, a marketing expert at the University of Technology Sydney, said: "Novel foods such as this can trigger curiosity as much as caution, particularly when they look different from what people grew up with."
FSANZ said it received 32 submissions during the approval process, with 25 opposing the application. Submissions included input from GE Free NZ, which criticised the approval process and said that naturally purple tomato varieties such as La Cadero and Indigo Rose are already commercially available.
The approval marks a regulatory milestone for genetically modified fresh produce in Australia, with market uptake now dependent on grower adoption and consumer acceptance.
Source: The Guardian
