Public perception
Survey reveals that biotechnology isn't on the radar screen of American consumers
Archived article from Feb 8, 2002
By Michele Hujber
Walk down the aisles of any supermarket and chances are you'll encounter foods containing genetically modified (GM) ingredients. Yet, according to a study released by the Food Policy Institute at Rutgers, only four in 10 Americans are aware that GM foods are for sale at their local grocery.
"Biotechnology just isn't on the radar screen of most Americans," said William Hallman, associate director of the food biotechnology program at the institute. "Despite all of the media attention on the subject, most people report that they feel uninformed about biotechnology, few say that they have heard or read a great deal about biotech and more than two-thirds say that they have never had a conversation with anyone about it."
This lack of familiarity is reflected in the answers given by 1,203 randomly selected adults to a 10-item true/false quiz that was part of the survey. Only 40 percent of those interviewed were able to correctly answer seven or more of the questions. For example, only a little more than half of the population (57 percent) knew that the statement "Ordinary tomatoes do not contain genes, while genetically modified tomatoes do" is false. Nearly a third of Americans don't know that eating a genetically modified fruit will not alter their own genes, and about a third are unconvinced that tomatoes genetically modified with genes from catfish will not taste "fishy."
"Biotechnology is still an abstract concept for most Americans, and most people haven't really made up their minds about it," said Hallman. "So there are real differences in how people respond to questions about biotechnology in general vs. questions about specific biotech products."
For example, the study found that the majority (58 percent) of Americans say that they approve of using genetic modification techniques to produce new plants, but less than one-third (28 percent) approve of using these techniques to produce new animals.
Plant products that have clear benefits to society received high approval rates. Eighty-five percent of the public says that they would approve of the use of genetic modification to create more nutritious grains to feed people in poor countries, and more than 80 percent say they would approve of genetically modified rice with enhanced vitamin A that might help prevent blindness.
Nearly three-quarters of those surveyed also approve of the use of genetic modification to create less expensive or better-tasting produce or to develop grass that doesn't need such frequent mowing.
"What these findings suggest," said Hallman, "is that people are willing to consider the characteristics of the products of biotechnology rather than deciding that all biotechnology is good or bad."
When it comes to genetically modified foods, however, many Americans seem skeptical, believing that food companies are likely to put profits above safety. As a result, 75 percent of Americans agree that strict regulations are necessary, but nearly 60 percent don't think the government has the tools to do this properly.
In the meantime, 90 percent of American consumers say that foods created through genetic modification should have special labels on them, and about half (48 percent) say that they would not buy fresh vegetables if they were labeled as produced through GM.
"However, what people say they will do and what they actually do are often very different," cautioned Hallman, a leading psychologist who studies public perceptions of risk.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently granted $2.5 million to Rutgers' Food Policy Institute to continue the research begun in this study. Co-investigators include psychologists, agricultural economists, communication researchers and food policy experts.
"Future studies will look not just at what people know about biotechnology, but how they came to know it," said Hallman. The team will be looking at where media gets its information about biotechnology, how that information is disseminated by the media and how people react to different types of information.
"The future of genetically modified foods will clearly be defined in the marketplace," said Adesoji Adelaja, the founder and director of the Food Policy Institute. "Once it becomes clear to consumers, through labels or other means, that a particular food product was genetically modified, they will need to make real decisions about the acceptability of GM foods. Then it really comes down to the collective answer to the dilemma that will face individual consumers: to buy or not to buy."
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