As a foodie kind of person a new survey by the International Food Information Council Foundation (IFIC) has some very interesting results. There is a lot of information in the report. It is titled, “Research with Consumers To Test Perceptions and Reactions To Various Stimuli and Visuals
Related to Bioengineered Foods.”

Here is a short note about the findings to start with.

Labels proposed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) to disclose “bioengineered” (BE) foods dramatically increase a wide variety of consumer concerns, especially regarding human health.

Those are among the findings of new research by the International Food Information Council (IFIC) Foundation into areas where AMS sought comments on its proposed BE labeling standards, as well as consumers’ views generally of genetically modified foods, or GMOs.

Based on what I’ve read there is a significant need for more and better public education about these topics. It is amazing how little people know or how much they think is true that is not when it comes to food. The graphic with the canola oil bottle shows how consumers were presented information (labeling) and what the results were. Basically, as information that was shown on the label increased, respondents fears about human health increased. That certainly brings up concerns regarding the USDA-AMS July 3 deadline to comment on the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Law.

So, what do you do about labeling? What is proper and enough? What do you do when consumers don’t know what the label actually means?

You can read the full report here or download the .pdf here.