No fresh GMO tomato has been a normal grocery store item for most of the last three decades. Exactly one reached shelves in the 1990s and failed commercially.
A second only recently cleared the last regulatory hurdle. GMO tomatoes get discussed as though they fill the produce aisle. The actual record is much narrower than that.
This guide covers what has actually existed and what exists now. It ends with what the purple tomato debate on gardening forums gets right and wrong.
The short version
Only two GMO tomatoes have ever reached real consumers. The Flavr Savr, engineered for delayed ripening, launched in 1994 as the first genetically engineered food the FDA ever evaluated. It disappeared from shelves by 1997.
The Purple Tomato, engineered with snapdragon genes to boost antioxidant pigments, cleared FDA review in June 2023. It is now sold mainly as home garden seed rather than fresh produce.
Nothing else marketed as a GMO tomato has reached the US market at commercial scale.
The Flavr Savr: the first one, and the cautionary tale
The Flavr Savr was the first genetically engineered food the FDA ever evaluated, receiving approval in 1994. Its modification slowed the enzyme responsible for softening, letting the fruit stay firmer and ripen longer on the vine before shipping.
It reached the fresh market for the 1994 growing season and stayed there through 1997. What ended it depends on which record you read, and both versions are documented.
One account centers on the product itself. A National Academies review of genetically engineered crops notes it cost more than competing tomatoes without tasting better, and that Campbell Soup Company declined to use it after facing public opposition.
A second account centers on the business behind it. Calgene, the tomato’s developer, struggled with high production costs. Its own inexperience growing, handling, and shipping tomatoes at scale made things worse.
The product was shelved after Monsanto acquired the company. Both explanations point to the same outcome, a technically successful piece of genetic engineering that failed to become a viable product.
The Purple Tomato: newly real, not yet common
Norfolk Healthy Produce’s Purple Tomato is the closest thing to a current GMO tomato on the market. Two genes from snapdragon plants were added to the variety.
That addition prompts the fruit to produce anthocyanins, the antioxidant pigments that give it a deep purple color. The FDA’s biotechnology consultation letter, dated June 20, 2023, concluded it had no further questions about the tomato as human food.
The agency found it not materially different in safety from tomatoes already on the market. The only intended change was a rise in anthocyanins.
Availability so far runs through home gardeners rather than grocery shelves. Norfolk sells seed directly in the United States, with recent approvals in Canada and Australia.
The company explicitly restricts sales to countries where the product has cleared local biotech regulations.
What gardeners actually think about it
The purple tomato reached home garden forums well before it reached any produce section. The discussion there splits cleanly.
On one gardening forum thread, a poster named kenisaac posted photos of purchased seed. The question to other members was blunt: would you plant it, could you plant it.
Responses ranged from curious to skeptical. A member named Lucy68 shared research on the anthocyanins and how cooking affects them, noting that Norfolk actively encourages seed saving and sharing among growers.
Another poster, Hortaholic, pushed back hard. The argument was that the industry manipulates how genetic modification gets described to the public, with a stated preference for sourcing seed only from committed anti GMO growers instead.
A third member, Frillylily, raised a more practical worry. The concern was patent restrictions, and what cross pollination with other tomatoes in a home garden might mean.
The most useful exchange stayed mundane.
A member named kittriana asked whether the purple color survives cooking. Another poster confirmed that the pigment does fade with heat.
Why gene edited tomatoes are not quite the same story
A separate technology sometimes gets lumped in with GMO tomatoes and does not quite belong there. Japan’s Sanatech Seed developed a tomato edited with CRISPR to raise its GABA content. GABA is a compound linked to modest blood pressure benefits.
Domestic sales in Japan began in 2021. That tomato uses gene editing rather than the older transgenic approach, meaning no foreign DNA from another species was inserted, only edits to the plant’s own genes.
It has not reached the US market. Its regulatory status reflects a different, evolving conversation than the one around the Flavr Savr or the purple tomato.
Frequently asked questions
Are there GMO tomatoes in grocery stores right now?
Not in any meaningful, widespread way. The Flavr Savr disappeared from shelves by 1997, and the Purple Tomato is currently sold mainly as home garden seed rather than fresh grocery produce.
What was wrong with the Flavr Savr tomato?
Depends on the source. One account says it cost more than competing tomatoes without tasting better, while another points to high production costs and inexperience at Calgene, the company that developed it.
Both factors likely played a role in its withdrawal by 1997.
Is the purple GMO tomato safe to eat?
The FDA reviewed it and concluded in June 2023 that it had no further questions about its safety as human food. The agency found it not materially different from other tomatoes already on the market, aside from its intended boost in antioxidant pigments.
What genes were added to make the purple tomato purple?
Two genes from snapdragon plants, according to the company that developed it. Those genes prompt the tomato to produce anthocyanins, the same antioxidant pigment family responsible for the deep color in foods like blueberries and purple cabbage.
Is a CRISPR edited tomato the same thing as a GMO tomato?
Not exactly. Gene editing changes a plant’s own genes without inserting DNA from another species, a different process than the transgenic approach used in the Flavr Savr and the purple tomato.
Japan’s high GABA tomato uses this gene editing method and has not reached the US market.
Bottom line: GMO tomatoes have a much shorter real history than the phrase suggests. Only the Flavr Savr and the Purple Tomato have actually reached consumers, one briefly in the 1990s and one only recently, mostly through home garden seed rather than grocery shelves. The gene edited tomato sometimes mentioned alongside them uses a different technology entirely and is not sold in the United States. For more on what actually grows well in a home garden, see this site’s complete growing guide at https://knowtomato.com/how-to-grow-tomatoes/.
SOURCES
National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health: 1994, FLAVR SAVR Tomato. https://www.genome.gov/25520336/online-education-kit-1994-flavr-savr-tomato
National Academies Press, National Center for Biotechnology Information: Genetically Engineered Crops Through 2015. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK424540/
Oregon State University, SMILE Program: The Flavr Savr Tomato, Additional Resources. https://smile.oregonstate.edu/sites/smile.oregonstate.edu/files/additional_resources-flavr_savr.pdf
U.S. Food and Drug Administration: Biotechnology Consultation Agency Response Letter, BNF 000178, Del/Ros1-N Tomato. https://www.fda.gov/media/170056/download
Norfolk Healthy Produce: Frequently Asked Questions. https://www.norfolkhealthyproduce.com/pages/faqs