Under US law the tomato is a vegetable.

1893

Botanists call it a berry, but in 1893 the Supreme Court ruled that since tomatoes are served with dinner, not as dessert, they must be taxed as vegetables.

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• Court rules the tomato a vegetable1893 · Washington, D.C.. A tomato importer argued that tomatoes were fruit and exempt from the duty on vegetables; botanically, they are berries. In 1893 the US Supreme Court disagreed: people serve tomatoes with dinner, not dessert, so they are vegetables.

19th century

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