---
title: Are my tomatoes genetically modified?
date: 2012-06-22T21:31:53Z
modified: 2012-06-22T21:31:53Z
permalink: "https://elizabethyarnell.com/are-my-tomatoes-genetically-modified/"
type: post
status: publish
excerpt: ""
wpid: 2238
categories:
  - Living Naturally
  - Nutrition in the News
tags:
  - genetically modified tomatoes
  - GMO tomatoes
  - Gregor Mendel
  - tomatoes and pesticides
author: Elizabeth
---

**Reader question:** _How do I know if the tomatoes I buy at the grocery store are Genetically Modified foods?_

**Answer:** There are [no Genetically Modified tomatoes](http://elizabethyarnell.com/effortlesseating/2012/06/what-foods-have-been-genetically-modified-gmo/ "GMO tomatoes") on the shelves today.

![tomatoes](http://greenhousetomatoesoutside.com/images/XSmall3tomatoes.jpg "tomatoes")

That is, there aren’t any tomatoes that have been altered by the insertion of insect DNA, though of course going back to [Gregor Mendel,](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregor_Mendel "gregor mendel") the act of hybridization is a form of modifying produce, too.

Even though they are not GMOs, many conventional tomatoes are grown using fertilizers adjusted to get larger fruit size and sacrifice taste and nutrition. Not to mention the pesticide residues used in conventional farming practices.

Even though they do not appear on the [Environmental Working Group’s Dirty Dozen Plus](http://elizabethyarnell.com/effortlesseating/2012/06/the-dirty-dozen-produce-with-pesticides/ "dirty dozen produce") list for high pesticide levels, and they are not GMOs, tomatoes are still an item I always try to buy organic.