Consumer Acceptance of Genetically Modified Foods: Traits, Labels, and Diverse Information - Transgenic Horticultural Crops: Challenges and Opportunities - page 209

During.the.era.of.input.traits,.consumers'.informed.prior.beliefs.were.somewhat.
negative.about.agricultural.biotechnology.and.GM.foods..These.prior.beliefs,.how-
ever,.have.the.potential.to.become.more.favorable.toward.GM.horticultural.crops.as.
new.products.with.intragenic.GM-enhanced.consumer.attributes.become.generally.
available.in.the.food.market..Also,.strong.evidence.exists.that.consumers.are.posi-
tively. inluenced. by. biotech. industry. or. pro-biotech. information,. and. negatively.
affected.by.environmental.group.or.anti-biotech.information..Moreover,.third-party.
veriiable.information.has.been.shown.to.be.a.moderating.inluence.on.consumer.
interpretation. of. anti-biotech. and. pro-biotech. information. and. on. willingness. to.
pay.for.GM.foods..Hence,.a.future.role.exists.for.public.sector.provision.of.third-
party. veriiable. information.about.GM.technologies.and.GM.food.products..This.
new.information.will.affect.prior.beliefs.of.consumers.about.GM.food.products.and.
be.a.useful.input.to.objective.assessments.of.new.GM.food.products.that.enter.the.
market,.which.could.be.important.to.the.commercial.successes.of.new.GM.horti-
cultural.crops.
APPENDIX A: INFORMATION INJECTED INTO THE 2001 DES
MOINES AND ST. PAUL EXPERIMENTS 42
A..The.following.is.a.collection.of.statements.and.information.on.genetic.modiication.
from.Greenpeace,.a.leading.environmental.group.
General Information
Genetic. modiication. is. one. of. the. most. dangerous. things. being. done. to. your.
food. sources. today.. There. are. many. reasons. that. genetically. modiied. foods.
should. be. banned,. mainly. because. unknown. adverse. effects. could. be. cata-
strophic!. Inadequate. safety. testing. of. GM. plants,. animals,. and. food. products.
has.occurred,.so.humans.are.the.ones.testing.whether.or.not.GM.foods.are.safe..
Consumers.should.not.have.to.test.new.food.products.to.ensure.that.they.are.safe.
Scientiic Impact
The. process. of. genetic. modiication. takes. genes. from. one. organism. and. puts.
them. into. another.. This. process. is. very. risky.. The. biggest. potential. hazard.
of. GM. foods. is. unknown.. This. is. a. relatively. new. technique,. and. no. one.can.
guarantee.that.consumers.will.not.be.harmed..Recently,.many.governments.in.
Europe.assured.consumers.that.there.would.be.no.harm.to.consumers.over.mad.
cow.disease,.but.unfortunately,.their.claims.were.wrong..We.do.not.want.con-
sumers.to.be.harmed.by.GM.food.
Human Impact
GM.foods.could.pose.major.health.problems..The.potential.exists.for.allergens.to.
be.transferred.to.a.GM.food.product.that.no.one.would.suspect..For.example,.if.
genes.from.a.peanut.were.transferred.into.a.tomato,.and.someone.who.is.allergic.
to.peanuts.eats.this.new.tomato,.they.could.display.a.peanut.allergy.
Another.problem.with.GM.foods.is.a.moral.issue..These.foods.are.taking.genes.
from.one.living.organism.and.transplanting.them.into.another..Many.people.think.
it.is.morally.wrong.to.mess.around.with.life.forms.on.such.a.fundamental.level.