Consumers’ Attitudes Towards GM Food in China

Abstract

Over 25 years of research and development on genetically modified food, consumers’attitudes have been changing. This paper builds on the previous field surveys on consumer attitudes and behaviors towards GM food in China. It analyzes not only people’s attitudes towards food containing GMOs but also their attitudes towards the labeling regulation of GM food. 24.9% of respondents know GM food well, 64.6% just know a little, and 10.4% don’t know something about GM food. 0.0% of respondents think that GM food is safe, 18.8% think that GM food may be safe, 50.4% think that it may not be safe, 20.4% think that it is not safe, and 10.4% don’t know whether GM food is safe or not. 0.0% of respondents strongly support GM food entering the market, 6.9% support it, 41.0% are neutral, 46.6% against, and 5.6% strongly against. 0.3% of respondents know the labeling regulations of GM food well, 19.8% just know a little of them, 53.7% are not quite clear about the regulations of GM food, and 26.2% do not know anything about them. Finally, the limitation of this study is discussed.