Late night in a secretive laboratory reeking of chemicals and sinister intent. White-coated scientists with thick glasses and unruly hair sit hunched over bubbling test tubes, cackling maniacally. They are bending nature to create something alien.

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"Gentlemen," whispers one of the scientists. A hushed awe fills the room. "Please behold ... the purple tomato."

In reality there was probably less cackling and more paperwork. But either way the purple tomato is coming soon to a store near you and its pending arrival is being greeted with the usual mix of fear and trepidation.

Purple Bliss, a genetically-engineered small tomato with a violet hue, was approved for sale by Australia's food standards authority earlier this year after a separate licence was issued by the Gene Technology Regulator allowing it to be grown here.

Its striking colour is borrowed from the genes of snapdragon flowers and modified to produce anthocyanins, the same compounds that give blueberries and blackberries their deep hue and rich antioxidant value.

Cue the familiar chorus in social media chat rooms around the country. GM food? No thanks. It's unnatural. Dangerous. Why tamper with nature? Yet these same pearl-clutching critics happily ingest food engineered not by geneticists but a far more untrustworthy group of professionals - marketing departments.

Think highly-processed breakfast cereals coated with sugar and fortified with vitamins and added minerals. Drinks that glow with the fluorescence of highlighter pens. Snacks dusted with chemicals tasting vaguely of paddock and laboratory.

The great irony is that humans have been genetically modifying food for thousands of years. Every apple, carrot and ear of corn is the product of human intervention. Early carrots were thin, woody and usually purple or white. Ancient corn cobs were tiny, with gritty kernels that cracked teeth and contained little nutritional value. The original banana abounded with large hard seeds and very little flesh.

Selective breeding, a slow motion version of genetic modification, made them edible. Modern techniques speed up that process, increasing resistance to disease, providing greater tolerance to drought and improved nutrition. It's a safe bet almost every food item that passes your lips has been modified in some way from its original form.

These are not insignificant improvements. In a world grappling with climate change, shrinking farmland and growing........

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