The company that is commercialising the GM purple so-called “anti-cancer” tomato has targeted a non-GMO heirloom seed company over alleged patent infringement. In its 2024 catalogue, Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company in the US offered a “non-GMO purple tomato”, the Purple Galaxy. Baker Creek said it was then contacted by Norfolk Healthy Produce, the US subsidiary of Norfolk Plant Sciences. Norfolk Healthy Produce, in Baker Creek’s words, “expressed concern that the Purple Galaxy might have been derived from its patented genetically engineered tomato”. Baker Creek withdrew the Purple Galaxy seeds, saying, “Subsequent laboratory testing conducted in conjunction with Norfolk did not conclusively establish a relationship between the Purple Galaxy and Norfolk’s GM purple tomato. Indeed, such contamination should be unlikely in Europe, given its approach to GM crops. But the testing also did not conclusively establish that the Purple Galaxy is truly free of any genetically modified material.” The episode reveals much about the current climate in which plant breeders and seed retailers are increasingly living in fear of legal threats from GMO developer companies. GMWatch

 

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