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A Study of Current Attitudes to Gm Food: Literature Review

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A study of current attitudes to GM food: Literature review

Introduction

Genetically modified (GM) food has been available since 1984 (Butcher, 2009). GM organisms are created through a biotechnological process which consists of altering traits of original crops by inserting the DNA of another organism (MacCracken et al, 2011). As with all innovations, these developments in biotechnology have led to numerous studies about whether the benefits outweigh the risks (Shah, 2002). In the case of GM, the uncertain benefits and unknown risks might influence public perception (Ronteltap et al., 2007). Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to evaluate a wide range of published studies on public attitudes towards GM food, including studies by the FSA (2003), Sheldon et al. (2009) and Bredhal (1999), in order to provide a basis for the following research. This paper will firstly analyse the importance of knowledge in shaping public attitudes. Secondly, different types of attitudes will be categorised. The final section will be devoted to the factors that shape different attitudes. The paper concludes with a discussion of the main themes; highlighting different issues mentioned and relating them to the current research.

Public Knowledge of GM food

It is widely recognised that the availability of information plays a key role in consumer choice and decisions. Additionally, knowledge has a significant impact on either consumers’ acceptance or rejection of GM food (Bredhal et al, 1999). Moreover, according to Costa-Font et al. (2008), the source and the way in which information is provided play an essential role in the level of acceptance. For instance, Gath and Alvensleven (1998) pointed out that food labelling represents an important source of information for consumers. Also, it is clear that for consumers some sources are more reliable than others. In this approach,

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