In recent years, the use of soybean oil by the food industry has increased. A significant proportion of this oil is produced from genetically modified soybeans.

Discuss two benefits and two concerns of using genetically modified foods.

Benefits:

Concerns:

Benefits: [2 max]

enhanced taste/quality/appearance;

longer shelf life;

reduced maturation time;

improved tolerance of drought / marginal conditions / rainfall/temperature/nutrient levels;

increase in yield/productivity/feed efficiency;

development of crops with greater amounts of nutrients/micronutrients;

more resistant to herbicides and insecticides / permit the use of more environmentally friendly herbicides and insecticides;

increased resistance to pests/disease / improved animal health;

Concerns: [2 max]

links to increased allergies (for people involved in GM food processing);

risk of changing the composition of a balanced diet/altered nutritional quality of food;

pollen from GM crops may contaminate normal crops with unknown effects;

uncertainties about long-term health effects of genetic modification of food;

The benefits and concerns regarding genetically modified foods seemed to be well known with almost all candidates scoring well, though a common failing was again the use of journalistic descriptions that lacked the precision one hopes would result from an in depth study of the subject.