
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, May 19, 1994                   TAG: 9405190162
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: The Washington Post
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

FDA OKS SOUPED-UP TOMATO

The Food and Drug Administration Wednesday cleared the way for the sale of a genetically engineered tomato- the first whole food developed through biotechnology to be made available to U.S. consumers.

Some activists criticized the decision, but the agency declared that Calgene Corp.'s "Flavr Savr" tomato is as safe as tomatoes bred by conventional means. It will be available for sale within weeks in selected areas.

Calgene altered its tomato plants genetically to produce fruit that takes longer to rot than conventional varieties. The move is designed to address one of the irritating facts of modern life: Most store-bought tomatoes are hard and comparatively flavorless. This is because they must be picked green- before the enzymes that break down the pectin and other compounds that make cell walls rigid can do their work- in order to withstand the bumpy process that brings them to the supermarket. Those tomatoes are then reddened artificially using ethylene gas.

The Calgene scientists inserted a gene that blocks the production of a key pectin-killing enzyme, creating a tomato that takes about a week longer to rot than other varieties, and thus can be picked at the later, more-flavorful pink stage.

Calgene, which worked with the FDA for more than five years to validate the safety of its product, will market the tomatoes under the "MacGregor's" brand. They will first appear in the next two weeks in stores in California and the Midwest.

If the Calgene tomato really does taste better than the regular variety at an acceptable price, consumers may well snap it up, said Grocery Manufacturers Association spokesman Jeff Nedelman.

by CNB