GM food has become more common, however, the controversies related to it is still important and still debating.
1. Controversies

1.1 Health issue
There are some effects on health of gm food. They are the allergens in gm food which causes allergies and transfer of antibiotic resistance markers to human body. Though genetic modification provides a chance to reduce or even eliminate the protein allergens that were found naturally in food. Though gm products have its own advantage, it may also add allergens to the food.
One such example is the Brazil nut allergens. A methionine-producing gene from Brazil nut is introduced into soybean to improve its nutrient content. Before these soybean was markets, test on allergens were carried out. It was found that the consumption of transgenic soybean could cause allergenic results in some individuals. This incident has increased the awareness about the possible risks associated with genetic modification food.

1.2 Environmental issue
Some very important and common impacts on the environment are "unintended tranfer of transgenes through cross-pollination, unknown effects on soil microbes, loss of flora and fauna biodiversity".
One example of unintended transfer of genes through cross-pollination. Monarch are the butterflies that feed on milkweed. However, when milkweeds are planted beside Bt maize, the milkweeds were covered with pollen. Monarch butterfly larvaes feed on these milkweeds and died. The death of these Monarch butterfly larvaes is due to the toxin that is transferred from the Bt maize to the milkweeds.

1.3 Ethical issue
GM food includes the combination of genes from different organisms or the transfer of genes from one source such as animals to food. Many is still debating about the issue of violating nature. Other than this, many concerns are "violation of natural organisms' intrinsic values, objections to consuming animal genes in plants and the stress caused on animals".

Reference
1. Genetically Modified Foods and Organisms. Human Genome Project Information. http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/elsi/gmfood.shtml; accessed on 7th June 2008
2. Genetically modified organisms, consumers, food safety and the environment. FAO Ethics Series. ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/003/X9602e/X9602e00.pdf; accessed on 9th July 2008

Due to the increasing world population, it is essential to seek ways to ensure an adequate food supply for the population.

GM foods help to solve this issue in a few ways:

1. Advantages of GM food

1.1 Pest Resistance
1.2 Herbicide Resistance
1.3 Disease Resistance
1.4 Cold tolerance
1.5 Drug tolerance/ salinity tolerance
1.6 Improved nutrition
1.7 Pharmaceuticals
1.8 Phytoremediation

What is mycotoxin?
Mycotoxin is secondary metabolite produced by microfungi that are capable of causing disease and death in humans or other animals.
All mycotoxins has low molecular weight, and they are natural products produced as secondary metabolites by filamentous fungi.

Mycotoxin caused a serious problem in 1962, during an incident near London which about 100000 turkeys died. This incident was found out to be due to the consumption of peanut meal which is contaminated with secondary metabolites from Aspergillus flavus. Since then, researchers have come to know that many other metabolites can also be dangerous to human beings.

Classification of mycotoxin
Usually arrange by the organ they affect. Mycotoxin are classified as followed:
Hepatotoxin, nephrotoxin, neurotoxin, immunotoxin, etc. Followed which would be the classification into generic groups such as teratogens, mutagens, carcinogens and allergens.

Examples of common mycotoxins
1.1 Aflatoxins
There are 4 major types of aflatoxins: B1, B2, G1 and G2 based on their fluorescence under UV light and relative chromatographic mobility. Aflatoxin B1 is the most dangerous natural carcinogen known and is the most common produced by toxicgenic strains.

1.2 Citrinin
It is being identified in many species of Penicillium and several species of Aspergillus. It is often associated with yellow rice disease in Japan. It is also one of the reason for porcine nephropathy. Wheat, oats, rye, corn, barley and rice are the sources of citrinin.

There are also many other mycotoxins, and the major one also includes ergot alkaloids, fumonisins, ochratoxin, patulin, trichothecenes and zearalenone.

Reference
1. J. W. Bennett and M. Klich. Mycotoxins. American Society for Microbiology, Clinicl Microbiology Reviews (July 2003) http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=164220; accessed on 1st June 2008

Introduction

What is GMO?
GMO stands for Genetically Modified Organism. They are plants, animals or bacteria that have one or few selected genes from other organisms introduced into them through the use of modern gene technology.

What is GM food?
Food that are derived from GMO or contain one or more GMO, are known as GM food.

Plants have been modified in the laboratory to create desired traits such as increased resistance to pesticides or improved nutritional content. Originally, food has been modified using the plant breeding method. However, this method is very time consuming and it does not produce accurate results. Thereby, Genetic Engineering is used. It helps to create plants with the exact trait rapidly and with high accuracy.

Reference
1. E To H On Food Safety. Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore. (24th March 2006) http://www.ava.gov.sg/FoodSector/FoodSafetyEducation/Food+Facts/E+to+H+on+Food+Safety/index.htm; accessed on 1st June 2008

2. Genetically Modified Foods: Helpful or Harmful? Deborah B. Whitman. (April 2000) http://www.csa.com/discoveryguides/gmfood/overview.php; accessed on 1st June 2008