Antecedents of Attitudes towards GM and Novel Foods in Australia

Researchers at Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) have recommended that scientists and food manufacturers test new products derived from novel technologies for positive perception by consumers. This will help their products to be easily accepted in the marketplace and allow them to be successful.

G. Evans and D.N. Cox tested Australian consumers for antecedents to their attitudes towards four foods (yoghurt, margarine, pasta, and prawns) produced using various technologies, including genetic modification. The researchers found that there are significant differences between attitudes of consumers towards foods from the different technologies.

Australian consumers rated products - like margarine with GM Omega 3 flaxseed oil and resistant pasta - more negatively if they found out that they were derived from technologies that included words like “genetically modified” or “GM”, than products produced by technologies described by less controversial words, such as pasteurization.

Evan and Cox explained that the potential benefits of GM are not often recognized by consumers, because the benefits of the early GM (first generation) products were producer oriented. This attitude still persists even though the products they have used in their study belong to second generation GM that offers quality traits. Furthermore, the researchers pointed out that many other factors can affect food choice including price and familiarity with the product. They recommend that a similar study be conducted to test consumer attitudes in other cultures.

The paper published by the British Food Journal is available for subscribers at http://dx.doi.org/0.1108/00070700610709968.