Line 4Line 4 Copyic/close/grey600play_circle_outline - material
Answers

Question

http://gizmodo.com/the-original-genetically-modified-tomato-youll-never-e-559924439 "But where Calgene explicitly labeled their altered tomatoes, Monsanto took over huge markets of staple crops without marking any of their products as genetically modified. And that lack of transparency is what many believe has to lead to the GMO aversion you'll so often see today." This is a quote re: Flavr Savr My question is, was this tomato sold for consumer use in the 90's? I hope you answer 'yes', because for many, many months I was taking tomatoes back every week to the supermarket stating the insides didn't look like anything I had ever know to be a tomato. None of the store staff in multiple stores had a reason for the blackened insides. They were asking their suppliers and had not been given an answer. Eventually.......I just gave up trying to find out what these 'tomatoes' were. So from the photos I see of the Flavr Savr tomato, we were being fed these without knowledge or consent.

Submitted by: ohnogmo


Answer

Expert response from Peter J. Davies

Professor of Plant Physiology and International Professor of Plant Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca New York, USA

Tuesday, 12/03/2013 13:07

Flavr-Savr tomatoes were developed to have a delayed over-ripening property so that they remained fresh in the retail trade for a longer period of time.  They have not been available since the 1990’s.  A blackening of the insides of tomato fruit is most likely blossom-end-rot occasioned by a deficiency of calcium during fruit development. When available, Flavr-Savr tomatoes were voluntarily labeled to inform consumers of the unique product benefits.