General Overview: Awareness of Genetically Modified Food Among Consumers

Abstract

Current review was aimed to collect evidences of consumer’s attitude and knowledge about genetically modified food (GMF). Almost 150 articles of GMF with respect to social aspects were reviewed. Many consumers had negative attitude towards GMF because of health risks, low naturalness, lack of trust on experts and food safety management, and some consumers showed high inclination towards local food. Fear and emotional consideration, lack of information, lack of education and low dissemination of knowledge about GMFs were identified as factors in creating negative attitude towards genetic modification in food. Moreover, some consumers showed positive attitude due to their good socio-economic situation and their concerned were food freshness and quality. According to the literature, During the emergence of GMF, various organizations and consumers showed negative attitude and left unsolved conflicts regarding precautionary principle between governments, producers, distributors and consumers. The marketing sectors of GMF or crop faced different issues created by consumer’s attitude around the world. The basic purpose of the GMF was to fulfill the consumption requirement but the rapid negative reactions from consumers hindered the consumption of GMF. Due to such situation, researchers need to investigate the real situation of consumer’s attitudes towards the GMF consumption in future.