Price is key factor when buying of GE food

By JOSIE CLARKE

A significant number of New Zealanders would probably buy genetically engineered food if it was cheaper than rival brands, a new study has found.

The HortResearch study also found that up to a quarter of consumers surveyed would probably buy genetically engineered food if it had benefits such as less pesticide or more vitamins than other brands.

Researcher Joanna Gamble surveyed 908 people aged 14 to 65 to test attitudes towards GE foods.

More than half the respondents initially indicated some negativity to genetic engineering, with a quarter feeling extremely negative.

Only 10 to 18 per cent felt positive about the technology and a third were undecided.

But attitudes changed when the respondents were presented with an image of a tomato genetically modified to reduce the need for pesticides.

Between 20 and 25 per cent of respondents would probably buy the tomatoes, about 40 per cent would probably avoid them and about 25 per cent would definitely avoid them.

HortResearch also found that about 50 per cent of consumers would probably choose GE products if the price was low enough. About 40 per cent would avoid the products at any cost.

"Price is a key issue, and if non-GE food becomes more expensive because of the cost of testing it for labelling purposes, then you are going to get people accepting GE food because it's cheaper," Ms Gamble said.

Concerns over genetic engineering centred on the unknown long-term health risks to the environment and people's health.

"People felt they were being treated as guinea-pigs without actually having given their consent, because they didn't know if they were consuming GE food or not."

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