Robert Herrmann, Jennifer James, and Rex Warland

Media attention to the use of genetic modifications in agriculture has increased sharply in the past two years. Despite this increasing volume of coverage, public awareness of genetically-modified (GM) foods and the controversies surrounding them is spotty. In a nationwide survey conducted earlier this year, the adults surveyed were asked a series of questions about things they might have heard or read. Their responses were as follows:

• Had heard or read about food produced from GM plants 52%
• Had heard or read about food from plants genetically modified to resist insect damage 20%
• Had heard about foods from GM crops currently being sold in grocery stores 20%
• Had heard about the recall of taco shells containing traces of GM corn 56%
• Had heard about the European ban on GM crops imported from the U.S. 29%

Overall, a total of 81% of the survey respondents had heard of one or more of these items.

Although most of the respondents had heard something about GM foods, only a few felt they knew much about them. Responses to the question about knowledge of GM foods were as follows:

• Hadn't ever heard of GM foods 19%
• Said they knew little or nothing 65%
• Said they knew some or a great deal 16%

There were major differences among population groups in how much they felt they knew about GM foods. Males, those with education beyond high school, and those who were more involved with household food shopping were especially likely to feel they knew more.

For Many, Attitudes Were Unformed

A major proportion of the 81 percent of the respondents who had heard something about GM foods were undecided about the risks involved - 45 percent said were unsure about the risks or did not know. Among the others, 36 percent considered them safe, while 19 percent did not consider them safe.

Given the widespread uncertainty about the risks of GM foods, it is not surprising that overall attitudes toward them were not clearly formed. Most of those questioned said they were undecided about GM foods, or neutral toward them:

• Positive attitude 13%
• Neutral 29%
• Negative 22%
• Don't know 36%

Because of the uncertainty about GM foods, it is not surprising that most (88%) of the respondents who had heard of them favored labels to identify foods with GM content.

Those who had heard something about GM foods were asked how much confidence they had in the ability of government agencies to make sure the food from genetically-modified plants is safe. The responses do not indicate widespread confidence in government regulation. Only 10 percent of the respondents said they were very confident of the government's ability. The rest said they were somewhat confident (37%), not very confident (37%), or not sure (16%).

The uncertainty about GM foods is reflected in the numbers that indicated reluctance to buy them. Those who had heard of GM foods were asked how likely they were to buy them. Only 8 percent said they were very likely to buy them, while 24 percent said they were somewhat likely to buy. Another 42 percent said they were not likely or not too likely to buy, while 26 percent said they were not sure. The reported reluctance to buy GM foods may not affect actual buying behavior. In surveys conducted as rbST (the genetically-engineered hormone given to dairy cattle) was being introduced a few years ago, many said they would not buy milk from treated cows. This opposition has largely disappeared. Niche markets for milk from untreated cows, however, have developed in some areas.

What They Wanted to Know

All 2000 of the respondents were asked if they were interested in finding out more about GM foods. Most wanted to learn more. Over three-quarters said they were very or somewhat interested in learning more about them. Those with education beyond high school, and those who were more involved with food shopping were especially likely to say they were interested in learning more.

The respondents who indicated an interest in learning more about GM foods were asked what they would like to know more about. Their responses were recorded by the interviewers. Up to three of these responses were classified into categories by the researchers.

Most respondents offered a single response. Some, however, offered multiple responses. As a result, the percentages reported here add to more than 100%. The percentages of respondents giving particular responses were as follows:

• Process-focused questions - the how, what, and why of the technology of producing GM foods 33.3%
• Health effects of GM food use - safety, risks, long-term effects, "side effects" 26.3%
• General information - "I want to know everything about it," "I want to know what it is" 20.9%
• Overall evaluation of GM foods - pros and cons, benefits 13.5%
• Market presence - what's in the stores, labeling, how to avoid 10.3 %
• Safeguards, testing - testing, test results, FDA activity 9.4%
• Undefined interests - not sure or don't know what they would like to know, irrelevant responses 6.8%
• Environmental effects - effects on insects, animal and plant life 5.4%
• Nutritional and quality effects - nutritional benefits, effect on taste 3.9%
• Economic and social effects - effect on cost of production and store prices, world hunger 2.8%

The responses seem to fall into two broad categories. About half of the respondents gave responses of a very general nature. Many focused on understanding the technology relating to GM foods - e.g., "I want to know how they do it." Other general responses dealt with a desire for basic information about GM foods - e.g., "I want to know what it is." A smaller number of responses dealt with relatively specific issues. These included responses dealing with health effects; with nutrition and quality effects; with economic, and social effects; with environmental effects; with marketplace presence; with safeguards and testing; and with the overall evaluation of GM foods. Many of these more specific responses dealt with safety and health-related issues. They suggest a widespread concern about the safety of GM foods.

Who Wanted to Know What?

Let's turn now to looking at the distinctive characteristics of those who gave particular replies about what interested them. For this analysis, four of the smaller categories were combined into two new categories. Those who expressed interest in nutrition and quality effects were combined with those who expressed interest in learning about health effects. And, those who expressed interest in economic and social effects were combined with those expressing concern about environmental effects.

The discussion will begin with the characteristics of those who gave more general responses and then move to the characteristics of those who gave more specific responses. In proceeding from the general to the specific, we can see certain patterns in the respondents' personal characteristics and attitudes. Those who gave don't know and not sure responses are discussed separately.

Interest in General Information - The demographic characteristics of those in this relatively large category chiefly differed in having more respondents with intermediate levels of formal education - 12 to 15 years. They more frequently reported themselves as having no knowledge of GM foods than did other respondents and were less likely to be aware that GM food products were being sold in stores. They were less likely to have heard about the development of GM insect-resistant plants, the taco shell recall, and the European ban on GM crops. They also were less engaged with media coverage of food safety than other respondents. When asked their attitude toward GM foods, they gave don't know and neutral responses more frequently than did the other respondents. This suggests that their attitudes toward GM foods were still not clearly defined. Their expressed interest in learning "all about" GM foods probably should not be taken entirely at face value. Respondents who gave these responses generally knew little, and may have dealt with the pressure to reply by giving a very general response.

Interest in the Process of Producing GM Foods - Those in this category expressed interest in learning more about the how, what, why and who of the process of creating GM foods. This was the largest of the categories. The category differed in that it contained higher percentages of females, and of respondents with a major share of the responsibility for household food shopping than did the other categories. More of the respondents had 12 years of education than did the other respondents. Those in this category were more likely to say they had no knowledge of GM foods. Their attitude toward GM foods did not differ significantly from the other respondents'.

Interest in Overall Evaluations of GM Foods - The demographic characteristics of this intermediate size category differed only in that it contained more females with 13 or more years of education that did other categories. They were more likely to be aware of the use of GM in food crops to increase insect resistance and of the European ban on GM crops. However, they did not differ significantly from other respondents in what they felt they knew about GM foods. Their attitudes toward GM foods did not differ significantly from that of the other respondents.

Interest in Health, Nutrition, and Quality Effects - This was the second largest category of responses. The demographic characteristics of those who gave these responses did not differ from those of the other respondents. Nor did reported knowledge about GM foods differ from the reports of other respondents. This category was more aware of the development of pest resistant plants through genetic modification. They were more likely to say they paid a lot of attention to food recalls than were other respondents. While overall support for the labeling of GM foods was very high among all the respondents, support was significantly higher among this category.

Market Presence of GM Foods - This was one of the less-frequent responses. Those giving this response did not have distinctively different personal characteristics. They did differ, however, in their self-assessed knowledge about GM foods, saying they knew a little to a great deal more often than did other respondents. They also were more aware that GM foods were being sold in stores. They were more likely to say that GM foods are not morally acceptable and indicated less confidence in the ability of government to regulate them. More expressed negative opinions of GM foods, or to a lesser extent positive ones than did others in the study sample. They also were a good deal more likely to take a position (either positive or negative) on buying GM foods than were other respondents. Overall, those who gave these responses appear to be more knowledgeable than other respondents and to have more formed opinions (both negative and positive) than other respondents.

Interest in Economic, Social, and Environment Effects - Even after combination of two initial categories of responses, the number of responses dealing with effects external to the individual was relatively small. The demographic characteristics of those who gave these responses did not differ from those of the other respondents. They were more engaged with television reports concerning food safety. Otherwise, they had no distinctive characteristics.

Interest in Safeguards and Testing of on GM Foods - The relatively small group that gave these responses had a number of distinctive characteristics. Those who gave these responses were more likely to be males with 13 or more years formal education than were other respondents. They also were more likely to be in the 50-64 age range. They were more likely to say they had some to a great deal of knowledge about GM foods, and to say they had discussed them with others. They were more likely to know GM foods were in grocery stores and to be aware of the development of pest resistant plants. They also were more likely to be aware of the news coverage on the recall of taco shells containing traces of GM corn, and of the European ban on GM crops. Their opinions on GM foods differed significantly from other respondents. They were more likely to express neutral or negative opinions. And, they were more likely to say they were not likely or not too likely to buy GM foods. They expressed less confidence in the ability of government to regulate GM foods, and were more favorable to labeling than other respondents.

Undefined Interests, including Don't Know, and Can't Say Responses - These responses were the least frequently given of the eight categories. These respondents were significantly older than the other respondents, and more likely to have less than 12 years formal education. Their responses appear to be their way of dealing with the complex and unfamiliar subject matter of the survey. Their older age and lower education parallel findings from other surveys on those who were most likely to have given "don't know" responses in other surveys. Those who gave these responses were significantly less likely to be aware that GM foods were in stores. And, they were less involved with media coverage of food safety than were other respondents. They indicated no knowledge of GM foods more often than did the other respondents. Despite all this, they did not give "don't know" responses more frequently when asked their attitude toward GM foods. Instead, they expressed positive and neutral opinions more often than other respondents. They expressed confidence in the ability of government to regulate GM foods more often than did other respondents. They saw less need for labeling than did other respondents.

Some Conclusions

The survey results suggest that the American public's opinions about GM foods are not fully gelled. In our early 2001 survey, while most of those questioned had heard something about GM foods, 84 percent also said they knew little or nothing about GM foods or hadn't heard of them. When those who had heard something about GM foods were asked their attitude toward them, over half said they were neutral or didn't know what they thought.

Later in the survey, all 2000 respondents were asked if they were interested in learning more about GM foods. Some of the replies were relatively specific and indicate a familiarity with GM foods and the controversies that have surrounded them. The general expressions of interest, however, should be examined carefully. These included "I want to know more about it," and "I want to know how it works." Some of these replies may have come from respondents who felt under pressure to appear interested in learning more.

Overall, the results suggest that the task of informing the public about biotechnology and GM foods is far from over. Efforts to inform the public must deal with the diversity of public knowledge and interests. Part of the public knows something about GM foods and wants to hear more about particular issues, especially health/safety issues. Another sizable portion of the public knows little, and must be given some basic information before they can begin to develop meaningful attitudes. Constructing an even-handed program to inform the public and carrying it out presents the agricultural industry with an historic challenge.

About the Survey

The data presented are from a nationwide telephone survey of adults in the contiguous 48 states. Both listed and unlisted telephone numbers were called. The interviews were conducted in January and February 2001. In total, 2000 useable interviews were completed. The sample consists of 55 percent women and 45 percent men. It closely matches national distributions for race, marital status, and household size. The error rate was 2.2 percent.