Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct word or phrase that best fits each of the numbered blanks from 26 to 30. Is organic food safer and more (26) ______________? This is an important part of the debate. Many farmers and consumers believe it is. They think agricultural chemicals can cause serious illnesses like cancer, but there isn't much evidence proving this is true. However, recent studies have shown that eating ...

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct word or phrase that best fits each of the numbered blanks from 26 to 30.

Is organic food safer and more (26) ______________? This is an important part of the debate.

Many farmers and consumers believe it is. They think agricultural chemicals can cause serious illnesses like cancer, but there isn't much evidence proving this is true. However, recent studies have shown that eating organically-grown produce (27) ______________your chances of developing heart disease. Many doctors think it's more important to stop dangerous bacteria from contaminating foods. These bacteria can contaminate both organic and non-organic fruit and vegetables, and doctors recommend washing them carefully before eating them. Meat, fish and chicken can also become contaminated, so washing your hands before handling these foods is also very important. Many doctors also believe we should reduce the amount of sugar in our diets, and there is a lot of evidence to support this idea. They recommend carefully checking the list of ingredients on processed food and drinks for all the words that really mean sugar, like glucose, sucrose and fructose. And they remind us that the aim of most big food companies is (28) ______________lots of money, even if they damage our health while doing so. This means processed foods that are called "organic" can also be very (29) ______________if they contain lots of sugar.

Most people agree that naturally grown food tastes better. Is tastier food worth the extra money? That's a matter of opinion. Whether organic food is healthier or not is still not clear, (30) ______________more research is needed. However, consumers of organic food often say "better safe than sorry" when it comes to what we eat.