Attack of the purple (non)-killer tomatoes!

Australia approves purple genetically modified tomatoes, that may benefit heart and brain health. But would you eat one?

Tomatoes with snap ( dragon ! )

Australia has now approved the cultivation and sale of genetically modified purple tomatoes, clearing the way for them to appear in fruit shops as early as spring this year, with wider rollout in 2026.

This is not food colouring or clever cross-breeding. Scientists inserted two genes from snapdragon flowers into ordinary tomatoes, switching on the production of anthocyanins throughout the fruit, not just in the skin. These are the same antioxidant pigments found in blueberries, red cabbage and eggplant.

Once modified, the plants breed normally, passing the purple trait, and those juicy anthocyanins, to future crops.

These will become the first whole, fresh genetically modified food grown and sold in Australia.

Regulators at Food Standards Australia New Zealand and the Office of the Gene Technology Regulator have both signed off on safety.

Why oh why, the antho-cy?

For decades, genetic modification in crops has mostly been about protection: resisting pests, tolerating herbicides, surviving drought or disease. Think GM canola or cotton.

The purple tomato is different. It is designed for nutrition, not farm efficiency.

As Angus Dalton, Science Reporter, Sydney Morning Herald reports, the anthocyanins added to the tomato have been linked in large observational studies to better cardiovascular and cognitive health.

In a well-known 2008 mouse study by the research team (published in Nature Biotechnology), cancer-prone mice lived about 30 per cent longer on average when their diet included purple tomatoes.

That said, human evidence is still limited. Systematic reviews point out there are very few randomised controlled trials testing anthocyanins directly, so no serious scientist is calling this a miracle vegetable.

Still, it marks a shift. As University of Sydney agronomist Daniel Tan put it in Dalton’s piece, this is an example of “next-generation” GM food, aimed at consumers rather than just farmers.

“They gave me a small piece and it tasted just like a normal tomato.”

The global GMO hit parade

Here are five of the biggest or most interesting GM foods already grown and consumed around the world:

1. Soybeans (global) The undisputed big daddy of GMOs. Multiple modified soybean strains account for roughly half of all GMO crops grown worldwide. Because soy becomes animal feed, cooking oil and soy protein in countless processed foods, it is quietly consumed by millions of people every day, often indirectly.

2. Corn / maize (Americas, Asia, parts of Europe) Modified to resist insects or tolerate herbicides, boosting yields and reducing crop losses. Corn is eaten directly and used in everything from corn syrup to livestock feed.

3. Arctic apples (United States and Canada) Genetically modified so they do not brown when cut, reducing food waste in supply chains and pre-packed fruit snacks. Same apple, less ugly.

4. AquAdvantage salmon (United States and Canada) Contains a growth-regulation gene that lets it reach market size faster. Raised in land-based facilities, not open oceans, after more than two decades of safety assessment.

5. Flavr Savr tomato (United States, historical) The original 1990s GM food, designed to soften more slowly for transport. It flopped commercially, but proved the tech worked long before CRISPR was fashionable.

So… will Australians actually eat them?

Here’s the real experiment.

NSW only lifted its moratorium on growing GM crops in 2021, and Tasmania still has one in place. A 2022 survey by Food Standards Australia New Zealand found just under half of Australians still have some level of concern about GM foods.

There are also plenty of natural sources of anthocyanins already on shelves, from blueberries to the Queen Garnet “super-plum”, an Australian-bred variety developed for high anthocyanin content, which often contains higher concentrations than the purple tomato.

So the success or failure of Purple Bliss tomatoes may shape what comes next.

As Dalton notes, their reception could influence whether we later see things like non-browning apples or pink-fleshed pineapples, already sold overseas, entering Australian supermarkets.

Put simply, the future of GM food in Australia may hinge on whether we’re willing to put a very purple slice of tomato on our bruschetta.