The proponents of GM "super foods" claim they'll save the environment and help solve world hunger. Critics of GM foods have dubbed them "Frankenfoods" and warn about "Farmageddon". Somewhere between are those scientists and farmers who say that the technology of transgenics - which means splicing bits of DNA from one organism into another, or even from one species into another - comes with more questions than answers. Stuck in the middle is the hapless consumer.  Who do consumers believe?

In fact you may be eating eating products of genetic  engineering every day, whether it's your morning toast, the veggies in your stir-fry, your baked potato or soy lecithin in your chocolate bar. You may be wondering if GM products could affect you.

The government tells us that the biotech food on the market  is as safe as any conventional food, but critics are questioning the entire regulatory process and while some say this technology could harm the environment, others say it could save it.

Do we have any proof that these products are dangerous to your health or to the environment?
The answer is: No.

Is there any proof that these products are safe, for now and for the long term?
The answer is: No.

What we do know is that is hard to know which information to trust - the booklet from our government that's promoting the GM product? The speech from the protester on the street? The words from the university professor whose research is funded by the biotech industry?  We also do know that this GM foods, which has been widely available in our grocery stores, largely unlabelled, for the last couple years, offers no obvious benefits to consumers. GM food doesn't taste better, isn't nutritionally superior, won't last longer and isn't cheaper than conventional food.

After several international food disasters, including mad cow disease in England, Canada and USA, toxic chocolate in Belgium, deadly E. coli- contaminated water in Canada, illness known as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), and chicken flu virus in Asia and USA, consumers are naturally wary of any change to their food supply.

For most consumers, the No.1 concern is health. We know to little about  the long-term effects. We should call for a moratorium on the commercial planting of genetically modified crops until there's a scientific consensus on their impact. 

We all know that global starvation is not a problem of food shortages but of poor distribution of both food and income due to politics, wars, lack of education, deforestation and lack of family planning.