Tesco is launching a cancer-fighting tomato. The supermarket giant has said that the Healthy Living Tomato on the Vine is lycopene-rich to the tune of almost twice that found in normal tomatoes.
Tesco is launching a cancer-fighting tomato. The supermarket giant has said that the Healthy Living Tomato on the Vine is lycopene-rich to the tune of almost twice that found in normal tomatoes.
Lycopene is the chemical that gives red color to the tomatoes and is rich in anti-oxidants. It is supposed to fight prostate cancer, breast cancer and colorectal cancer. A previous study had found that eating 10 servings of tomatoes per week decreased the risk of developing prostate cancer by 45 percent. "The health benefits of anti-oxidants such as lycopene in our diets have recently attracted a lot of positive attention from both the medical and culinary worlds," said Tesco produce technical manager Ian Reed. "Functional foods such as tomatoes naturally have high levels of lycopene however this naturally-bred variety has even higher levels than standard ones and tastes great as well." This move by Tesco was welcomed by Dr Chris Hiley, head of policy and research at the Prostate Cancer Charity. "Over recent years, prostate cancer researchers have repeatedly returned to questions about the role of the antioxidant, lycopene, in diet - particularly from tomato-based products - in light of its apparent association with a reduced risk of prostate cancer," he said.
