Wednesday, February 2, 2005

Survey Says Americans Know Little about GM Foods (1/31/05 15:10)

OMAHA (DTN) -- A national study of 1,200 Americans commissioned by the Food Policy Institute (FPI) at Rutgers-Cook College, has found that Americans are interested in genetically modified food technology and have opinions about it, but few have the tools and background needed to make an informed judgment.

Genetic modification (GM) involves the transfer of genes from one plant or animal to another with the purpose of expressing a desired trait, such as pest resistance or increased productivity.

Despite the abundance of products with GM ingredients, the FPI study found that fewer than half of Americans (48%) are aware that such products are currently for sale in supermarkets, and fewer than a third (31%) realize they regularly consume GM foods.

And those who say they are aware of GM foods are confused as to which foods are out there; the majority (79%) incorrectly believed that GM tomatoes are available, possibly due to Calgene's highly publicized (but now defunct) GM tomato marketing effort in the mid 1990s.

The report found that most Americans have a passive interest in the topic of GM food. That is, while very few have actually looked for information about GM food, most say they would be very interested in watching television shows about the technology, particularly shows addressing concern about potential risks.

The study is the third in a series funded by a grant from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) under the Initiative for Future Agriculture and Food Systems Program (IFAFS) to examine consumer perceptions of agricultural biotechnology.

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