63% of U.S. Consumers Support Voluntary GMO Policies

By Amanda Brodhagen, Farms.com

A new study suggests that 63% of Americans support the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s existing voluntary policy for labeling genetically modified (GM) foods.

Interestingly, the 63% figure is consistent with survey results from previous years.

The survey which was conducted by the International Food Information Council Foundation also found that consumers generally had positive perceptions of GM foods. Specifically, GM foods that offer additional nutritional benefits. The study also found that consumers overall confidence in the safety of U.S. food supply to be strong at 67%.

Comparatively, only one percent of the survey participants said that biotechnology is something that they avoid when purchasing food. A small percentage 4% of respondents identified biotech as something they want information about on their food labels.

Sparingly, a sizable majority of Americans said that they have favorable perceptions about modern agriculture practices. Percentage wise, 73% viewed modern agriculture as sustainable and 71% said that it produces nutritional food.

The survey was conducted between March 28 and April 7, 2014, and the sample size was 1000 participants.