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SURVEY SHOWS ONLY 2% OF CONSUMERS LOOK FOR GM ON FOOD LABELS
Jan. 17, 2013
Agri-Pulse reports:
A United Kingdom Food Standards Agency survey finds only two percent of respondents look for information about biotech content when buying food products for the first time.
The findings are little different than those published by the International Food Industry Council last year, when less than one percent of U.S. consumers surveyed said they wanted biotech labels.
The UK Food Standards Agency published the survey as part of its research looking at consumer attitudes to the labeling of genetically modified (GM) food and the use of "GM-free" labeling.
The key findings of the UK research showed that consumer awareness of current labeling requirements is low and that participants were typically not seeking information or labeling with regard to GM foods.
While only two percent mentioned spontaneously that they looked for information about GM content when buying food products for the first time, there was a slight preference among those surveyed for labeling that indicates the presence of GM, rather than labeling that indicates the absence of GM.
Those who preferred the "GM-free" label said the labeled product should be completely free of GM technology. (Japan, for example, only mandates that foods with more than five percent GM product be labeled).
Survey participants were generally unaware of the use of GM animal feed by farmers. However, once made aware of it, they typically said products from animals fed GM feed should be labeled - a finding consistent with previous FSA research.
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