Plant Biotechnology: Public Fear of Unknown at Odds with Scientific Evidence

 

Perhaps it is our relative wealth. Perhaps it is cultural bias for celebrity influence. Perhaps it is just nonchalance. Whatever the reasons, there is a wide gap between scientific reality and public opinion in the United States. Polls on food and genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are particularly revealing. 

 

The Pew Research Center conducts a regular survey comparing how U.S. consumers and scientists view science and society that includes several questions about GMOs in food. The latest poll results, released in January, were striking: 57 percent of the public agreed with the statement that GM foods are “generally unsafe to eat,” with only 37 percent saying GM foods are generally safe. This is in contrast to 88 percent of scientists polled who agreed with the statement that GM foods “are generally safe.” This gap of 51 percentage points was the largest of the survey, which also included questions on animal testing, hydraulic fracturing, vaccinations and nuclear energy. That 67 percent of the public polled agreed that “scientists do not have a clear understanding about the health effects of GM foods” is very troubling. 

 

USW believes that an overwhelming number of studies and reports reaffirm that food ingredients derived from plant biotechnology meet the same safety requirements for food and feed as ingredients from traditionally bred plants. Yet misinformation on the Internet, often circulated by activist groups that profit from fear mongering, seems to gain public acceptance even in the face of basic truths.   

 

Here is another example. A separate survey in January conducted by the Oklahoma State University Department of Agricultural Economics found that 82 percent of respondents supported mandatory labels on GMOs. However, 80 percent of respondents also said they supported mandatory labels on “foods containing DNA.” 

 

Fundamentally, this indicates that people fear technology they do not understand. The use of the scientific acronym DNA apparently put them on the defensive despite the fact that DNA is a natural part of every plant or animal cell and in virtually every bite of food any of us has ever eaten. Looking at the challenge in this light does offer hope that widespread public education efforts might help consumers understand the positive impact plant biotechnology has had and will continue to have on sustainable agriculture and producing more and better food for an increasingly hungry world. 

 

Food and Agricultural Economist Jayson Lusk, who runs the Oklahoma State survey, noted that while people may express high levels of concern about GMOs, it often does not play out in their actions. He pointed out that initial polling strongly supported GMO food labeling initiatives in California, Colorado, Oregon and Washington, yet each ballot initiative failed (and in some cases with a strong majority).