Rarely do you hear the words "good for you" and "good taste" describing the same food. Tomatoes are an exception. (SHNS photo courtesy photos.com)

Rarely do you hear the words “good for you” and “good taste” describing the same food. Tomatoes, however, are an exception.

Here’s a true-or-false quiz with answers that just might surprise you.

1. Catsup is rich in lycopene.
2. Studies show that men who eat least two meals a week containing tomatoes lower their risk of prostate cancer by 24 percent.
3. A diet rich in tomatoes and tomato products may reduce the incidence of lung, breast and stomach cancer.
4. While tomatoes are beneficial in reducing some cancers, they have no effect on cardiovascular disease.
5. Tomatoes are high in sugar and therefore high in calories.
6. Tomatoes are a good source of vitamin C.
7. Raw tomatoes have more nutritional benefits than cooked ones.
8. Botanically, tomatoes are a vegetable.

Answers: 1) T; 2) T; 3) T; 4) F; 5) F. One medium tomato has 35 calories. 6) T; 7) F. The antioxidant nutrient lycopene, which is abundant in tomatoes, is better absorbed by the body when it is eaten from tomatoes that have been cooked, such as in fresh tomato sauce or grilled tomatoes, rather than from raw tomatoes. 8) F. In 1893 the Supreme Court ruled that the tomato must be considered a vegetable, even though botanically it is a fruit.

– The California Tomato Commission