GMO Food Labels Do Not Affect College Student Food Selection, Despite Negative Attitudes towards GMOs.

Katrina Oselinsky,Ashlie Johnson,Megan Mueller,Abby Johnson Holm,Pamela Lundeberg,Dan J Graham

doi:10.3390/ijerph18041761

Katrina Oselinsky, Ashlie Johnson + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18041761

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Abstract

US Public Law 114–216 dictates that food producers in the United States of America will be required to label foods containing genetically modified organisms (GMOs) starting in 2022; however, there is little empirical evidence demonstrating how U.S. consumers would use food labels that indicate the presence or absence of GMOs. The aim of this two-phase study was to determine how attitudes towards GMOs relate to food choices and how labels indicating the presence or absence of GMOs differentially impact choices among college students—the age group which values transparent food labeling more than any other. Participants (n = 434) made yes/no choices for each of 64 foods. In both phases of the study, participants were randomly assigned to seeing GMO Free labels, contains GMOs labels, or no GMO labels. Across the two phases, 85% of participants reported believing that GMOs were at least somewhat dangerous to health (42% believed GMOs to be dangerous), yet in both studies, although eye-tracking data verified that participants attended to the GMO labels, these labels did not significantly affect food choices. Although college consumers may believe GMOs to be dangerous, their food choices do not reflect this belief.

Highlights

Public Law 114–216 dictates that, beginning 1 January 2022, U.S food producers must label food products that are or may be bioengineered
85% of participants reported believing that genetically modified organisms (GMOs) were at least somewhat dangerous to consume (42% believed GMOs to be very dangerous)
The eye-tracking data confirmed that all participants in the labeling conditions spent some portion of time looking at the GMO labels

Summary

Introduction

Public Law 114–216 dictates that, beginning 1 January 2022, U.S food producers must label food products that are or may be bioengineered This law defines bioengineered foods as “those that contain detectable genetic material that has been modified through certain lab techniques and cannot be created through conventional breeding or found in nature” [1]. This law has already been implemented in some food manufacturing settings, the introduction of Public Law 114–216 has sparked concerns that the new labels will be used by consumers to discriminate against genetically modified (GM) products [2,3,4]. Data collection for the present study occurred prior to the passing of the Public Law 114–216, this work can be used to inform how these forthcoming labels might impact college-aged consumers

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