Genetically modified purple tomatoes, developed to provide the same health benefits as fruits such as blueberries, may soon be available in UK shops. However, sceptics have expressed concern over the fact that the tomatoes have not been tested to EU standards.

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Last week, 1,200 litres of juice from the GM purple tomatoes was sent back to the UK, where the fruit was developed, from Canada where large-scale production has already begun. The tomatoes contain the pigment anthocyanin, an antioxidant which studies suggest could help fight cancer and heart disease.

Tests on the tomato juice will establish whether or not the anthocyanin in the fruit lives up to health claims.  The fruit's developers from the John Innes Centre in Norwich said they hoped that the fruit could be used to improve the nutritional value of processed foods from pizza topping to ketchup.

GM sceptics in the UK reacted strongly to the news. Reacting on Monday, GM Watch expressed concern that there has apparently been no safety testing of the crops. The organisation said that, under EU regulations, if the tests on purple tomatoes in the UK are to involve humans, then prior testing on animals should have been carried out.  

GM Watch noted that, although JIC's Professor Cathie Martin suggested that "The next step [for the tomato] will be to take the preclinical data forward to human studies with volunteers to see if we can promote health through dietary preventive medicine strategies,"in another statement from the JIC's collaboarators in the research - the Universite  Cattolica del Sacro Cuore - Marco Giorgio from the European Institute of Oncology was more conservative. Giorgio said, "We have to consider that in this study we have not taken into account any possible toxicity so I shall say we’re far from considering a human trial."

Emma Hockridge, head of policy at the Soil Association also commented, "Here is yet another case of GM looking for problems that already have answers. The beneficial anthocyanin found in this GM tomato are already found aplenty in many fruits and vegetables including cranberries, cherries, plums and in several existing heritage varieties of purple tomatoes which have not taken huge amounts of research money to produce.

"The health claims about this GM crop first made in 2008 have been widely derided, for example by the NHS and Cancer Research UK."