Biotechnology can improve corn yields but some processors aren't interested in buying crops resulting from genetic engineering. The biotech controversy focuses on the concern that specialized strains of corn, soybeans and other agricultural products may not be safe for human consumption because they utilize genetic manipulation rather than traditional cross-pollination methods. For months, Japanese brewers have been turning down genetically modified grains and a Mexican tortilla maker is asking for non-genetically modified corn. In the U.S., after a push by Greenpeace, an international ecology group, the Gerber company agreed not to use genetically modified grains in its baby food products, and the Heinz company followed suit. Recently, Frito-Lay did the same.
Any risk is unacceptable.
Corn is a prime example of years of manipulation, Ms. Chin said. People probably wouldn't recognize corn as it was grown 300 years ago. Stalks were short and the kernels were hard and all over the ear instead of in straight rows as they are today. In recent years, biotechnology has improved the ways farmers around the world produce our food. Biotechnology provides a number of benefits.