Should modified foods be labeled? - Worldview - Brief Article

USA Today (Society for the Advancement of Education), August, 2002

Although studies have found that 80-90% of Europeans say they do not want genetically modified foods, manufacturers who market both genetically modified and conventional products have noticed that the two versions sell about the same. This proves to be no surprise to Charles Noussair, associate professor of economics, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind., who says it is common for public opinion and consumer behavior to differ. "Opinion surveys capture the respondent in the role of a voter, not in the role of a consumer. The two behaviors can be quite different, as many studies have shown."

Noussair and colleagues in Europe conducted experiments to investigate the paradox. Their research found that, despite the high level of opposition to genetically modified foods, most Europeans aren't concerned enough to read ingredient lists on food packaging. Consumers didn't notice that a food contained genetically modified products even after they were seated and left for three minutes with nothing to do but to look at the ingredients label.

In the study, consumers were given 150 francs ($21 U.S.) and asked to bid on large chocolate bars made by a major multinational company that produces genetically modified as well as non-genetically modified products. They could bid on what they thought the food was worth in a process akin to a game on "The Price is Right." In this case. however, the game is actually a sophisticated survey technique called the Vickery Auction, named after William Vickery, who won the 1996 Nobel Prize in economics.

Even after they were told the chocolate bars contained genetically modified ingredients, most of the consumers participating in the research were willing to buy the genetically modified foods, but only if the price was about one-third less that conventional products. Although foods that contain genetically modified ingredients are not cheaper now, that situation may show change as new advances in biotechnology are produced.

As a result of the study, the researchers are advising European nations to put a large label on the foods indicating they contain genetically modified ingredients in addition to putting the information in the list of ingredients. Bernard Ruffieux, a professor at France's Institut National Polytechnique de Grenoble and Grenoble University, says labeling of genetically modified foods is a major subject in Europe. "It's a big issue for us because we're importing a lot of maize and soya [corn and soybeans], and these are used in many of our foods. It's also a big issue because now the food markets are globalized. The demand of the consumers for information is spreading around the world."