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Am I eating genetically engineered tomatoes?
The rise and fall of GE tomatoes.

Short answer: no. Several genetically engineered varieties of tomatoes have been developed in the US and approved for commercialization, and some of them were available in a limited number of markets for a few years in the mid '90s. For a variety of reasons these GE tomatoes are no longer marketed, and there are currently no GE tomatoes present in US markets either as whole tomatoes or in processed tomato foods.
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The first genetically engineered food to test the regulatory system in the U.S. was Calgene's ill-fated Flavr-Savr tomato. The Flavr-Savr tomatoes, engineered to spoil less quickly after harvesting, could be left to ripen on the vines longer, developing more flavor and allowing later shipment to stores (ripe tomatoes can't be shipped very far because they spoil too quickly and are normally shipped green and chemically-ripened later). In late 1991, Calgene had a variety of Flavr-Savr tomato ready for marketing, and requested the opinion of the FDA. Using the Calgene tomato as a test case, the FDA issued its formal statement of policy in May of 1992. Bottom line: the FDA decided that GE foods would not be regulated any differently than conventional foods. At the same time, Calgene was permitted by APHIS to begin large-scale plantings of its new tomato, and Calgene announced that the Flavr-Savr would be available in test markets after the 1993 growing season.

In early 1993, public concerns about food safety prompted Calgene to request a ruling from the FDA regarding the safety of antibiotic resistance genes in GE foods (Flavr-Savr carries resistance to the antibiotic kanamycin). At the same time, Campbell Soup Co, which had collaborated with Calgene to develop the GE tomato, announced that it would not include the new tomato in its products until the FDA again ruled on its safety. Later that summer, Calgene sparked controversy by taking a direct hand in the production of its tomatoes-- contracting directly with farmers, and controlling the distribution and marketing system itself. Although Calgene had tomatoes ready for shipment, by the end of the year the FDA still had not issued a new ruling, and the 1993 harvest was never marketed (although it took a longer time to spoil).

But Calgene was not alone in the race for the first GE tomato. Campbell Soup Co had also been supporting the UK's Zeneca Seeds to develop another delayed-ripening tomato using the same technology. Threatening mutual lawsuits, Campbell, Calgene, and Zeneca worked out a compromise in February of 1994: Calgene would be given the world-wide rights to sell the fresh-market types of the new tomato, while Zeneca would focus exclusively on processing tomato applications. Zeneca's GE tomato was approved by the FDA in 1994, and by both APHIS and UK food safety regulators in 1995. Although the tomatoes had to be grown in California, in the UK Zeneca contracted the Safeway and Sainsbury grocery chains to sell the world's first (and only) GE tomato paste. The product was clearly labeled as "GE," was considerably less expensive than tins of conventional brands (delayed-ripening made processing cheaper), and was very popular for several years (est. 60% share of canned tomato market in 1999). These products were pulled from shelves in the UK only recently, following the increasing unpopularity of GE foods in the UK.

Introduction of the FlavrSavr into US markets was more problematic for Calgene. Like Zeneca, Calgene received FDA approval for its tomatoes in mid-1994. That summer the Flavr-Savr tomatoes, under Calgene's "MacGregors" brand, arrived in markets in the Chicago area. The tomatoes were clearly labeled as "genetically modified" and supplied with information pamphlets. Despite growing protests by activist groups (notably Jeremy Rifkin), the tomatoes were well received and Calgene had difficulty keeping up with demand.

But by early 1995, Calgene was showing signs of trouble: technical problems made it difficult to ship the delicate GE tomatoes without damage, the tomatoes hadn't grown well in Florida production fields, and Calgene was hit hard by high development costs and several years of low tomato prices. A patent-infringement lawsuit brought against Calgene by Monsanto may have been a final blow: Calgene agreed to sell a 49.9% share to Monsanto in the July of 1995, and by October that fraction was upped to 54.6%. Calgene sustained its dwindling supply of the FlavrSavr throughout 1996 (including some markets in Canada). By the beginning of 1997, however, it became apparent that production problems might be unsurmountable, and Monsanto announced that it would buy the remaining shares of the cash-strapped Calgene. By March of 1997, there were no more FlavrSavr tomatoes left to be found, less than three years after their introduction.

Also, in the mid '90s, two other companies were vying to develop GE delayed-ripening tomatoes, using a different strategy (by controlling ethylene metabolism). Both DNA Plant Technologies (DNAP) and Monsanto gained regulatory approval for their similar GE technologies by late 1994 and early 1995, but then immediately sued each other over patent infringements. DNAP was slightly ahead of Monsanto, and briefly test-marketed its "Endless Summer" tomato in Rochester, NY. In the end, DNAP was the de facto loser: the struggling company was purchased by Empresa La Moderna (ELM) in 1996, and eventually withdrew its regulatory approval to grow GE tomatoes. Neither DNAP nor Monsanto have marketed their GE tomatoes since. Monsanto also developed a variety of insect-resistant (Bt) tomatoes, but it was also never marketed.

A fifth company, Agritope, won approval from both APHIS (1995) and the FDA (1996) for another type of GE tomato, also employing an ethylene-related technique. Agritope is busy applying this strategy to several other fruits in addition to tomatoes, but all of its products are still several years away from marketing.

Several companies are currently developing new varieties of GE tomatoes, including Monsanto, Calgene, Agritope, Aventis, DNA Plant Technologies, Seminis, and others.
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