https://bio.nikkeibp.co.jp/atcl/news/p1/25/09/11/13721/

https://bio.nikkeibp.co.jp/atcl/biodatabase/091000041/

The startup Sanatech Life Sciences, renamed from Sanatec Seed in January 2024,  registered a new genome-edited tomato as a food product. The company has previously introduced deletion mutations in the autoinhibitory domain of GABA synthase in two different tomato varieties, Sicilian Rouge and Esproso, to create new varieties with activated GABA synthase. These have been registered as foods. The new variety reportedly is a different, yellow-fruited cherry tomato variety. In a disclosure document about genome-edited foods, the company commented that it has a high sugar content and is suitable for eating raw.

In addition to this GABA-boosted tomato, Regional Fish submitted a tilapia with increased edible portion size, in which a deletion mutation was introduced into the myostatin gene, causing a frameshift that resulted in a loss of function.

In total, there are now nine gene-edited food varieties registered in Japan (see Nikkei database).

In order to sell genome-edited foods as food, the Consumer Affairs Agency must first confirm that the food does not fall under the category of a genetically modified organism (GM) with the Genetically Modified Foods Investigation Committee of the Food Sanitation Standards Council’s New Food Investigation Subcommittee.