UK and Dutch shoppers happier than most to buy GM products

Date: 11/04/02

By Laurence Frost

DUTCH and UK consumers are more willing to buy genetically modified (GM) foods than other Europeans, according to new research.

The findings are due to be unveiled at today's (11 April) European Food Summit in Brussels, hosted by the EU Confederation of Food and Drink Industries (CIAA).

Research firm Environics asked people in the EU's five largest countries whether they would continue buying a favourite product if they noticed GM ingredients on the label.

By subtracting the percentage of people who would stop buying from those that would carry on, they calculated 'net ratings' of customers' readiness to buy GM.

The bad news for biotech is that the overall picture is negative even in the countries where opposition to GMOs is least entrenched.

The Netherlands scores a rating of minus-13 - showing that 13% more customers would stop buying a product than carry on, once GM ingredients were discovered.

The gap widens in Britain (-19) and in France (-40), while Europe's most GM-resistant punters are German (-57), closely followed by the Italians (-55).

But there are positive signs, too, for the biotech food industry, in the form of data showing that the willingness to buy GM improves drastically under certain conditions.

When the GM product is more nutritious than non-GM equivalents, the rating soars into positive figures in the Netherlands - where a +20 score indicates 20% more consumers would carry on buying than would stop - and in the UK (+6). Resistance also softens in France (-2), Germany (-14) and Italy (-16) - though with most consumers clearly still inclined to stop buying.

The figures will come as a pleasant surprise to GM producers, who usually steer clear of nutritional messages which they fear encourage public perception that their products are 'tampered' with.

Reacting to the new data, a spokeswoman for biotech lobby Europabio said: 'We think it shows that consumers are basically starting to realise that new technologies can produce safe food with increased benefits.'

Across the five countries nutritional advantages produce an 18% swing towards buying a GM food, while environmental benefits result in a smaller shift of 16.5% and lower prices tempt just 10.5% to make the changeover.

But a spokesman for the CIAA said customers' claims that price does not affect their decisions should always be taken with a pinch of salt.

Dutch and UK consumers are more willing to buy genetically modified (GM) foods than other Europeans, according to new research due to be unveiled at the European Food Summit, Brussels, 11 April 2002.