Consumer Acceptance of Genetically Modified Foods: Traits, Labels, and Diverse Information - Transgenic Horticultural Crops: Challenges and Opportunities - page 200

economic.problem,.as.agents.seek.to.determine.the.optimal.strategy.for.testing.
and.other.risk.mitigation.strategies.*
While.private.sector.handlers.routinely.segregate.and.blend.grains.and.beans.as.
a.primary.function.of.their.business,.new.risks.arise.when.handling.GM.and.non-
GM.products,.due.to.the.added.risk.of.adventitious.commingling..When.GM.is.the.
inferior.product,.growers.and.handlers.of.GM.products.have.an.incentive.to.mix.GM.
with.non-GM.products..For.U.S..grains,.Wilson.and.Dahl.suggest.that.this.risk.may.
be.about.4%.at.the.grain.elevator.level. 21 .Farmer-processor.contracting.in.horticul-
tural. or. specialty. crops,. however,. could. reduce. this. margin. by. specializing. in. the.
product.being.delivered,.such.as.non-GM.or.a.positive.GM.trait..Another.source.of.
risk.is.testing,.because.no.test.is.100%.accurate..Testing.risk,.however,.varies.with.
the.technology,.tolerance,.and.variety.of.products.handled,.and.seems.likely.to.fall.
over.time,.as.the.technology.of.testing.advances.
In.markets.where.there.is.imperfect.information.due.to.one.or.more.parties.hav-
ing. private. information,. private. parties. have. an. incentive. to. use. their. information.
to.enhance.their.private.goals. 24,25 .Highly.conlicting.information.has.been.injected.
into.the.GM.food.market.by.interested.parties..These.vested.parties.are.the.agricul-
tural.biotech.industry.(pp..153-183), 26. including.Monsanto,.DuPont/Pioneer.Hi-Bred,.
Dow,.Syngenta,.and.BASF,.that.have.disseminated.information.that.is.very.favorable.
to. GM. technologies,. crops. and. food. products,. and. environmental. groups,. includ-
ing. Greenpeace,. Friends. of. the. Earth,. Action. Aid,. and. Earth. Watch,. that. have.
disseminated. information. that. is. very. negative. about. GM. crops,. such. as. calling.it.
“Frankenfood.” 27 .This.diverse.information.has.undoubtedly.contributed.to.the.GM.
food.controversy.and.may.be.one.factor.explaining.differences.across.Western.coun-
tries. in. their. acceptance. of. GM. crops.. Also,. consistent. with. consumer. education,.
independent. third-party. or. veriiable. information. about.agricultural. .biotechnology.
may. have. considerable. value. if. available. and. disseminated. to. consumers. 12,28,29 .
Veriiable. information. provides. an. objective. assessment. of. the. beneits. and. costs,.
including.environmental.risks,.of.GM.crop.varieties.and.the.foods.made.from.these.
raw.materials..Hence,.society.can.avoid.losses.due.to.the.strategic.behavior.of.inter-
ested.parties.toward.new.technologies.and.products.if.decision.makers.have.access.
to.and.use.independent.third-party.or.veriiable.information.
EXPERIMENTS DESIGNED TO ASSESS CONSUMER
WILLINGNESS TO PAY FOR GM FOODS
Because.GM.foods.are.relatively.new,.my.research.team.chose.to.use.an.auction.
market.setting 30 .to.collect.information.about.consumer.willingness.to.pay.for.(or.
demand). GM. foods. 12,31 . This. relects. the. reality. that. GM. food. products. are. not.
* . “Tolerances”.are.an.important.issue.in.segregation.and.identity.preservation..GM.tolerance.refers.to.the.
maximum.impurity.level.for.GM.content.that.is.tolerated.in.a.product.that.still.carries.the.non-GM.label..
There.are.two.levels.where.tolerances.apply:.one.is.deined.by.regulatory.agencies.such.as.the.FDA,.and.
the.other.is.commercial.tolerance..Individual.irms.can.and.seem.likely.to.adopt.different.tolerance.lev-
els,.subject.to.any.regulation..Moreover,.different.countries.are.likely.to.have.different.tolerance.levels,.
and.this.increases.the.risks.and.costs.of.segregation.or.identity.preservation.