Review of Labelling of Genetically Modified Foods

10.0 Consumer Attitudes to GM Foods and Labelling

The terms of reference for this review requires an examination of consumer attitudes to the acceptance and labelling of GM foods in Australia and New Zealand as well as in other countries. FSANZ has sourced a number of studies that investigate these topics. In addition several studies were provided or referred to FSANZ in submissions by stakeholders.

A comprehensive summary of data and major findings relating to consumer attitudes towards labelling and acceptance of GM foods in various countries has been collated in the form of a Consumer Attitude Matrix (refer to Appendix F). The data presented in the matrix is mostly from quantitative surveys. Although qualitative assessments are an excellent tool for exploring underlying issues, they cannot provide an indication of the prevalence of opinion among a population, nor the strength with which it is held. Therefore the quantitative surveys sourced for this review attempt to measure the attitudes of representative population samples towards GM foods.
These surveys differ regarding the questions asked and the comprehensiveness of the investigations. Some surveys are public opinion polls where a few very direct questions were asked whilst others are more extensive exploring various aspects of GM food. The surveys also present differences in relation to sampling methods, for example some surveys are based on information from respondents that were randomly selected whilst others are base on selected samples, such as members of organisations or magazine subscribers. Other surveys relied on respondents phoning in or providing opinions via websites. Such approaches are more likely to attract responses from those with strongly held views on the topics under consideration. Therefore arriving at a definitive conclusion regarding the attitudes of consumers to GM foods, given the significant variability in survey methodology, is not possible.
The reference grid in the Consumer Attitude Matrix at Appendix F provides details regarding the type of survey and the sampling methodology employed for each study. The discussions below draw on the major trends and issues emerging from some of the studies included in the Consumer Attitude Matrix.

10.1 Consumer Attitudes to and Acceptance of GM Foods in Australia and New Zealand

Attitudes to and acceptance of GM foods is a very complex area. Studies use a variety of indicators to determine the level of consumer acceptance of GM food such as expressed concerns, whether they will eat/buy GM products or whether consumers consider that the perceived risks of GM foods outweigh the benefits. Each of these provides different insights into the acceptance of GM foods such that it is difficult to arrive at a definitive position as to whether consumers, in general, are for or against GM foods.

Many studies into consumers attitudes have found that consumers express concerns about the safety of GM foods, despite approved GM varieties of food being scientifically assessed as being as safe as other foods. Studies have also shown that consumer concerns tend to be greater where there is less awareness and understanding of the science involved. An examination of consumers perceived risks of GM foods and what shapes their perception of risk is beyond the scope of this review. Therefore this section presents the broader consumer attitudes and acceptance of GM foods in Australia and New Zealand where these have been documented.
A recent article in ‘Food Australia’ suggests that consumer attitudes to GM foods need to be understood in context,
‘GM food concerns are smaller than concerns about pollution, greenhouse gases and nuclear waste, and are also smaller than other food-related concerns including pesticides in foods, human tampering of foods and food poisoning (Cormick, 2003)’.
An Australian survey conducted in February 2001 in which a random sample of 1000 people were interviewed by telephone found that food safety, bacterial contamination and chemical pesticides were of more concern to respondents than GM foods (MARS, 2001). A New Zealand study conducted by the Consumers’ Institute in which a questionnaire was mailed out to a random selection of ‘Consumer’ magazine subscribers found that 54% of respondents said that genetic modification was a very important or important issue when deciding what food to buy, however it ranked sixth on the importance scale after use by dates, taste, nutritional information, types of ingredients and price (NZFSA, 2002).
The Australian Consumers’ Association recently conducted a survey of their CHOICE Online Members on issues regarding GM Foods. Invitations to complete the survey were included in a CHOICE Online Member newsletter that was emailed to approximately 30,000 members in September 2003. The Australian Consumers’ Association received 645 responses to the survey. The majority of respondents (84%) expressed concerns about GM foods and are worried about eating them.
However, the fact that consumers have concerns about GM foods may not necessarily mean that they will avoid buying or eating GM foods. In comparison to the survey conducted by the Australian Consumers’ Association where 84% of respondents said they had concerns or are worried about eating GM foods, a recent opinion poll conducted by Roy Morgan Research and in which 25, 612 people in Australia and 12,927 people in New Zealand were interviewed, found that only 55% of Australians and slightly fewer New Zealanders (49%) go as far as saying that they won’t buy GM foods.
The acceptance of GM foods is also more pronounced when clear and desirable benefits are presented. A survey conducted by Millward Brown Australia on behalf of Biotechnology Australia in 2001 in which a random sample of 1001 people where telephone interviewed found that 60% of people indicated that they would eat GM foods if they had been genetically modified to be healthier (Biotechnology Australia, 2001). A New Zealand postal survey found that 60% of respondents were prepared to support GM food under some circumstances (Small, B., 2003). The results imply that the acceptance of GM food may depend on whether or not the consumer perceives that there are tangible benefits and that those benefits outweigh their concerns and perceived risks. To support this, a 2002 study that surveyed 1008 Australian consumers in mainland metropolitan areas found that in the absence of valued benefits most respondents strongly rejected GM food (Owen et al 2002). In addition the study found that despite consumer concerns with GM foods, respondents were prepared to pay a premium for products with a clear and desirable benefit but only if the benefit could not be achieved by more traditional production methods otherwise there would need to be a substantial cost benefit (Owen et al 2002).
In summary, the data conveys that consumers do harbour concerns and are perhaps a little unsure about GM foods but these concerns are not as great as other food related or environmental concerns. The fact that consumers have these concerns does not necessarily mean that they will also reject buying or eating GM foods. In addition, where GM foods are perceived to have benefits, consumer acceptance may be greater where it is considered that the benefits outweigh the perceived risks.