Consumers Feeling Better About Biotech Food
By George Anderson
The Packer reports that two separate research studies conducted by Roper ASW and the International Food Information Council demonstrate that consumers are becoming more accepting of biotechnology enhanced fruits and vegetables.
Six of 10 respondents to the Roper ASW poll support the use of biotechnology in agriculture, compared to two who oppose it. The other 20 percent responding were neutral on the subject.
Nearly three-quarters of US consumers told researchers for the International Food Information Council “they would likely buy tomatoes, potatoes and other produce that had been genetically enhanced to reduce reliance on pesticides, a 6% jump in the past year.”
Moderator’s Comment: What do you take from the biotechnology
studies cited in The Packer?
Consumers are looking for safer, more nutritious and better
tasting foods being the end-product of biotechnology. Getting all three right
(or at least two out of three) will be essential to converting the twenty percent
who say they are neutral on the subject. Those currently opposed probably always
will be. [George
Anderson – Moderator]