This year’s IFIC survey shows that, by and large, perceptions of food technology have remained steady, despite the increased coverage of food technology and modern food production issues in the media in the last year.
Most consumers are favorable toward various benefits offered through plant and animal biotechnology, especially those that may have a positive impact on their health and/or the health of the planet.
Satisfaction with information currently on food labels and the FDA’s labeling policy remains high.
Awareness of sustainable food production remains at its highest, and is an important aspect consumers want in food and beverage products they are purchasing. Biotech can help produce foods that meet these sustainability requirements as it provides environmental benefits including crops that require less cultivation and fewer pesticide applications, thereby saving fuel and reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions into the air. This also improves soil health and water retention.
“In the public landscape, we often see polling that tries to provoke or frighten people into giving a certain desired response,” said IFIC President and CEO David Schmidt. “We don’t believe in leading consumers to any conclusion. We believe our open-ended methodology used at the beginning of our survey provides a more accurate view of concerns on Americans’ minds, and the survey is the most objective and long-term publicly available data set on U.S. consumer attitudes toward food and agricultural biotechnology.”
