We’ve seen yellow watermelons and black tomatoes, but nothing could have prepared us for the prettiness that is the pink pineapple.
The new fruit has been in development since 2005, and are now officially patented and FDA approved. Del Monte and Dole will now start selling the genetically modified fruit in stores this summer.
The FDA cleared them for consumption in December of 2016, explaining that the pineapples were simply “engineered to produce lower levels of the enzymes already in conventional pineapple that convert the pink pigment lycopene to the yellow pigment beta carotene. Lycopene is the pigment that makes tomatoes red and watermelons pink, so it is commonly and safely consumed.”
Photos floating around the internet that show the exterior of the pineapple as a magenta color are likely doctored to enhance the variation. It will be the fleshy inside fruit that has the greatest pink color change.
The new fruit is known as the Rosé and get their rose-colored hue from the addition of lycopene, the same substance that gives tomatoes their bright red coloring. Del Monte is even claiming that the fruit is sweeter because of it.
Rosés will be grown in Costa Rica but sold in the United States just in time to grill on the kabob, color smoothies and garnish cocktails.
