In a potential new milestone in agricultural biotechnology, a gene-edited tomato that's high in antioxidants has cleared a key hurdle. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has formally decided that the tomato doesn't warrant regulation because it isn't a plant pest risk.

The tomato is the result of biotechnology research at the John Innes Centre and The Sainsbury Laboratory in England. The developers say the deep purple tomato contains high levels of anthocyanins, which are found in berries and other fruit.

Norfolk Plant Sciences, a company that's a spinoff of the research, has been working on breeding varieties suitable for production in the U.S.

In addition, a report by Rabobank predicts products such as this are why biotech fruits and vegetables are likely to take off in the market over the next several years.

Source:  USDA/APHIS  September 7, 2022 news release