2024-02-12 18:40:38
The former Minister of Ecology, François de Rugy, affirmed on X that the purple tomato had “proven its effects against cancer”. An effect of this genetically modified tomato which must be put into perspective.
A purple tomato that limits the risk of developing cancer? The reality is not so green.
In a tweet published on February 8, the former Minister of Ecology, François de Rugy affirmed that the purple tomato, authorized since September 6, 2022 by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) “has proven its effects against cancer.
With its “10 times higher antioxidant content […]”It is considered in Europe as a GMO (genetically modified organism, Editor’s note) and cannot be marketed,” he writes.
This tomato, designed by a team of scientists in the United Kingdom in 2008, is manufactured in the laboratory by introducing genes from snapdragon, a plant also called “wolf’s mouth”, into the fruit.
Genetically modified, it owes the color of its skin and flesh to its high level of antioxidant called anthocyanin.
The British study, published in the journal Nature Biotechnology, affirmed that “cancer-susceptible mice” which received these “anthocyanin-rich tomatoes” as food supplements showed a significant extension of their lifespan.
A substance already present in other foods
Contacted by BFMTV, the research director at the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) Philippe Grandcolas admits “generous, or rather satisfactory, effects on food” of anthocyanin. However, he says he “fears much ado about not much.”
“It’s a fairly futile complication since its substances are found in a balanced diet elsewhere,” he emphasizes. As in “leafy vegetables” (like red cabbage, Editor’s note) or “red fruits in season”.
For Philippe Grandcolas, this invention “does not seem very interesting in view of the dietary diversity that we should rather advocate and the consumption of seasonal vegetables”.
It also warns of the negative effects that the substance present in this purple tomato can have in the event of excessive consumption.
The scientific deputy director of the Ecology and Environment Institute also puts the results of the test carried out on mice into perspective.
“In general, when we test on strains of laboratory mice – which tend to develop cancers in an exaggerated manner – any kind of diet, there are some which will benefit the mice by reducing the development of cancers and then other diets which will, on the contrary, make them worse,” he explains.
An effect that he parallels with human beings. When the latter adopts a balanced lifestyle, free from excessive consumption of alcohol and cigarettes, which adopts a suitable diet and which exercises, it will have less risk of developing cancer.
Conclusion: purple tomato is not a medicine. And if it can have a positive effect on health, it should not be abused.
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