The Risk and the Unknown of the Genetically Modified Foods Research Paper

The Risk and the Unknown of the Genetically Modified Foods - Research Paper Example The analysis establishes that consumer background and diversity influences significantly intentions to purchase GM foods, which further suggests comprehensive study of consumer market to understand fully differences in market segments and the way they respond to GM food issues. Risks of GM foods in the analysis include uncertainty or lack of understating regarding GM food and potential environmental hazards of GM foods, which influence consumers’ attitude negatively toward GM foods. The paper discusses and traces relevant concerns and crucial issues facing GMOs prevalent in food supply in US and other nations across the globe. Instead of the paper addressing policy issues, the paper analysis intends to provoke thought in analysts as a way of determining whether GMOs are, ultimately worth the risk or rather they should be reduced or banned entirely in foods. The paper offers relevant information to prove that GM foods should be restricted until further knowledge is derived rega rding the effects of GM foods on human health. Even after two decades of debate on genetically modified foods, concerns still abound regarding the safety of GM foods and the debate persists as an essential issue in the world. Consumers in various nations are extremely cautious regarding GM food issue due to several factors. Most notably, there have been publicized food scares in US, Europe and Asia leading to negative development of negative attitudes toward GM foods. As well, inadequate knowledge and awareness about GM foods, the absence of trust in professionals and regulators to administer risk influence consumer perception of GM foods. Moreover, increased trade and globalization boosts exchange of food products among trading partners, which further complicate the issue of food safety management; thus, making people reluctant to embrace GM foods fully (Martinelli, Karbarz and Siipi, 2013). Resistance to change is inherent in individuals and usually serves to defend human beings f rom threats of the unknown. For a long period, humans have pushed the boundaries and experimented outside their zone of comfort and recommendation, which brought about space exploration, advanced science and technology. However, pushing the envelope seems to interest only certain individuals in the society to engage in the unknown making only those individuals involved comfortable with their performance. Therefore, from such an understanding it is obvious that expecting society to fully engage in an activity that may entirely be beyond their comfort zone is neither advantageous nor ethical, which is the situation regarding the use of GMOs in food supplies across the globe. Though scientific manipulation of plants and other organisms provides the world with more productive crops, the fact remains that extend of drawbacks exhibited in genetically modified organism are not entirely understood. Hence, incomplete knowledge existing with regard to GMOs in food led many nations to ban them entirely; although the US and several, other developed, nations still embrace GM foods. The reason GM foods exhibit clear and definitive concern for human population regards the unknown level of impacts GM foods pose to human health. Nevertheless, societies deal differently with ambiguities resulting from advances in technology, depending on how much uncertainty a community can tolerate. Especially useful in this analysis is the uncertainty