Genetically modified (GM) foods are foodstuffs produced from genetically modified organisms (GMO) that have had their DNA altered through genetic engineering. GM Foods were first put on the market in the early1990s. The most common modified foods are derived from plants: soybean, corn, canola and cotton seed oil and wheat.Controversies surrounding GM foods and crops commonly focus on human and environmental safety, labeling and consumer choice, intellectual property rights, ethics, food security, poverty reduction, and environmental conservation.

Many food-producing countries have been dissuaded from planting genetically modified (GM) crops because of a widely-held fear that consumers in rich countries – particularly in Europe – will reject GM food, and also conventional food products from countries that adopt GM technology. But are these fears well-founded?

Susan Watts investigates the second generation of genetically modified crops. These are being grown not for food, but to produce pharmaceuticals, engine oil and even to detect hidden landmines. Companies are promising low-cost vaccines which will benefit the poor in the developing world and environmental benefits in the form of non-polluting lubric

Biologists in Idaho are hoping their breakthrough potato, which they say delivers superior taste and health benefits, will quell suspicions about the safety of genetically modified foods. Researchers say the altered potato's gene structure will rebuff acrylamides, a natural byproduct that is produced when starchy foods are cooked at high temps.

As the use of GM foods increases, scientists are debating the attendant benefits and risks. In Australia, researchers abandoned a long-term experiment involving GM peas at the end of 2005 due to the fact that the GM peas were found to cause lung inflammation in mice.