Consumers still avoiding GMO foods, though awareness is low

Though consumers admit they still don’t know much about GMOs, an online survey from the Washington-based International Food Information Council (IFIC) Foundation, a nonprofit organization supported by the food, beverage and agricultural industries, found that shoppers will typically avoid foods containing GMOs, if possible. In addition, an IFIC article on the survey said consumers want food labels to tell them whether GMOs are present.

Surveying 1,002 people, the IFIC findings revealed nearly half of consumers (47 percent) don't worry about whether foods contain GMOs, but 41 percent will check packages for them when grocery shopping, Consumers also want to see a GMO symbol or wording on food packaging, the report said, so they can access the information while shopping. However, they don't want to call a number or visit a website to get such information. GMO labels proposed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), disclosing “bioengineered” foods substantially raised a wide variety of consumer concerns, especially regarding human health, the IFIC research showed.

How food makers and retailers can make the best use of the information is difficult to tell. But “even though consumers have very individualized beliefs about the meaning of many front-of-package claims, it’s clear that ‘natural’ and ‘sustainable’ are powerful motivators for certain consumers," the IFIC Foundation’s Vice President of Research and Partnerships Alexandra Lewin-Zwerdling pointed out.

With the AMS’s comment period deadline on the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Law approaching July 3, the foundation gauged reactions to three “BE” labeling symbols and two variations of text disclosures. “In every combination, the levels of concern across a variety of factors increased—often substantially—when a disclosure label was applied,” it noted.

When the survey asked consumers about their broader perceptions of GMOs, 36 percent admitted they knew very little or nothing at all about BE or GMO foods, the same number as those consumers who said they know at least a fair amount. Despite the low level of knowledge, 47 percent said they avoid GMO foods at least somewhat.