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As more and more countries are facing eventual starvation and inadequate food production, modern biotechnology has become important to us in areas of agriculture and food production since the early 1990s. By 2005, improved food productive had utilized this scientific technique in over twenty-one countries, covering a total of 222 million acres with a method farming soybeans, squash, canola, soybeans, papaya, corn, and cotton. The term "modern biotechnology" consists of applying scientific techniques toward the development of a much-desired trait in specific microorganisms, plants and animals.  

A few examples of biotech foods are rapid-rise yeast and enzymes for cheese-production, both produced through the process of biotechnology which uses living organisms in a broad range of techniques. Another example of a food study shows that enhanced strains of canola can be used to feed farm-raised fish for important sources of omega-3 fatty acids in a human diet.

"It seems that not a month goes by when we don't have another study touting the benefits of these long-chain omega-3 fatty acids," Santerre told an audience at the Biotechnology Industry Organization's 2003 annual conference in Washington, D.C., in June. "Consumers are really gobbling them up."

Unfortunately, biotech foods have received a lot of negative publicity as they are considered genetically modified organisms (GMOs) which cause a lot of fear in people who lack the correct information because of many of the early recalls through biotech. Simply put, soybeans and such are vegetables that are gene spliced to resist bugs and diseases to boost yields of the produce. And last fall, it was well-known that agbiotech experts at AgBioworld lacked investors for their research. But in 2004, Danish farms Danisco, Arla Foods, Arla Foods and Novosymes participated in a ten-year strategy that would analyze biotechnology in order to look seriously at foods of the future—a strategy that hopes to create high quality products for the same price as traditionally-raised food or less. During that time, 87% of countries devoted biotech to human health activities, and only 4% in food.

Cross-breeding goes back across the centuries in animal and plant species, with mankind desiring better taste or productivity through different varieties or "hybrids", formed with changes in the product's genetic makeup. An extremely time-consuming process, traditional cross-breeding requires several generations of plants or animals to obtain the trait sought for, while also preventing or removing unwanted traits. But biotechnology techniques allows for more preciseness in new varieties of crop or livestock.

Today, the World Health Organization is quoted as saying that a high priority is given to the safe use and application of modern biotechnology for food production and processing.  These same things present not only opportunities but also challenges to human health and development, as modern food biotechnology is very much a controversial global issue today.  According to the organization, a holistic approach is being adopted to help identify key issues which may affect human health and development. The report included the FAO, UNEP, OECD, and several international organizations.