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Changes in Korean Consumer's Perception and Attitudes toward Genetically-modified Foods  

Kwon, Sun-Hyang (Department of Food Science, Sejong University)
Chung, In-Shick (Department of Food Science, Sejong University)
Choi, Mee-Kyung (Department of Food Science, Sejong University)
Chae, Kyung-Yun (Tourism and Food Service, Business Department, Osan University)
Kyung, Kyu-Hang (Department of Food Science, Sejong University)
Publication Information
Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety / v.23, no.3, 2008 , pp. 182-190 More about this Journal
Abstract
A survey on consumer's awareness and perception toward genetically-modified(GM) foods was conducted on 2110 random samples of Korean consumers. More than 65% of the respondents were exposed to some information related to GM foods. The respondents answered that the greatest benefit of the development of GM foods is remedy of potential food shortages in the future. More than 90% of Korean consumers wanted GM foods to be labeled as such. More than 50% of the respondents would not buy until they know more about GM foods. Only 35.8% of Korean consumers were found to know that food items originating from plants contained genes. More consumers responded that they would not buy herbicide-resistant GM soybean but buy vitamin-enriched GM soybean. Many Korean consumers' decision of acceptance or rejection of GM foods depend not on the basis of biotechnology, but on the basis of the degree of benefit to the consumers. Only 6.4% of Korean consumers responded that GM foods were the greatest threat to the safety of Korean foods. The perception of Korean consumers on GM foods has not changed significantly during the past 5 years.
Keywords
genetically-modified(GM) foods; perception; attitude; herbicide-tolerant soybean; biotechnology;
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Times Cited By KSCI : 4  (Citation Analysis)
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