Polls examined here document a general, though not monotonic, decline in confidence that the federal government can ensure the safety of the food supply, a similar decline in confidence that food in restaurants or grocery stores is safe to eat, a decline in the belief that packaged-food companies are doing a good job, and an increased sensitivity to the negative aspects of GMO foods.
At the same time, we find that fewer people are attending to biotechnology-related news or the information on food packaging, but increasingly attending to food warnings and nutritional recommendations.
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The number of respondents who believed food produced using biotechnology poses a serious health hazard grew at a steady pace of 1 percent per year from 27 percent in 1999 to 33 percent in 2005.
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[T]here is a parallel decline in those “not at all concerned” from, depending on the survey, 16 and 19 percent in 2001, to 10 and 7 percent in 2012 and 2013, respectively. Those who were “very concerned/worrie[d] a great deal” or “somewhat concerned/worrie[d] some” grew from 61 and 64 percent in 2001, again depending on the survey, to 73 and 75 percent in 2012 and 2013, respectively.…
[S]upport for regulation requiring that genetically modified foods be labeled has been consistently strong, starting with 93 percent saying “yes” to requiring labels in 2001, and remaining at 93 percent in 2012 and 2013 after a brief dip to 87 percent in 2008.The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis. Read full, original post: Attitudes about Food and Food-Related Biotechnology
