• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.19-30
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• 2003

In this study, housewives' attitudes toward genetically modified foods (GM foods) and their willingness to purchase GM foods were examined. The findings of this study could provide useful information for consumer education and consumer policy development regarding GM foods. The specific purposes of this study were: (1) to examine consumers' attitudes toward GM foods, (2) to analyze the effect of the perception of GM foods and demographic variables on consumers' attitudes toward GM foods, and (3) to analyze the effect of the perception of GM foods and demographic variables on consumers' willingness to purchase GM foods. The questionnaire used in the survey was constructed by the author, based on existing literature. The survey was conducted with 1,100 housewives, and 723 of the completed survey forms were used in the final analysis. Frequencies, percentages, means, standard deviation, t-tests, ANOVA, Duncan-test, Pearson's Correlation, factor analysis, and discriminant analysis were employed for data analysis methods. Major findings are: (1) Consumers' attitudes toward GM foods consist of three factors, that are, attitude regarding potential danger, attitude regarding the use of GM technique on plants, and attitude regarding the use of GM technique on animals. (2) Consumers with a higher level of education tend to perceive GM food as more dangerous, whereas consumers with a lower level of education tend to accept more the use of GM technique on plants. (3) Consumers who tend not to consider GM foods as dangerous, and those who acknowledged benefits in using GM technique on plants are more willing to buy GM foods.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.182-190
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• 2008

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.

• Food Science and Biotechnology
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.829-832
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• 2008

A multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method was developed to simultaneously detect 4 varieties of genetically modified (GM) cotton. The event-specific primers were used to distinguish the 4 varieties of GM cotton (MON1445, MON15985, MON88913, and LLcotton25) using multiplex PCR. The acyl carrier protein 1 (Acp1) gene was used as an endogenous reference gene of cotton in the PCR detection. The primer pair Acp1-AF/AR containing a 99 bp amplicon was used to amplify the Acp1 gene and no amplified product was observed in any of the 13 different plants used as templates. This multiplex PCR method allowed for the detection of event-specific targets in a genomic DNA mixture of up to 1% GM cotton containing MON1445, MON15985, MON88913, and LLcotton25.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.344-347
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• 2003

A method using PCR was developed for the monitoring of genetically modified soybean (GMS) and GMS derived foods utilized in the market. We designed 3 pairs of specific oligonucleotide primers based on epsps and pat inserted in GMS and ferritin gene as internal standards. Template DNAs isolated from soybean and processed foods were used for multiplex PCR with 3 primer sets. PCR, used with specific primer sets for GMS detection, showed the amplified DNA fragments with GMS template DNA. In this study, GMS containing epsps was detected from soy processed foods manufactured before GM food labeling system, however, GMS containing epsps or pat was not detected from soy processed foods manufactured after GM food labeling system.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.152-158
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• 2001

A survey of consumers'awareness and attitudes about food biotechnology was conducted during May through August of 2001 with a random sample of 750 Korean consumers. More than 70% of the respondents was exposed to some informations related to genetically modified (GM) foods. The greatest benefit of the development of GM foods was thought to be the remedy for the food shortage in the future. More than 90% of Korean consumers wanted GM foods labeled. About 20% of the respondents would buy GM foods voluntarily, whereas over 50% would not until they found out more. More consumers responded that they would not buy herbicide-tolerant GM soybean but buy vitamin-enriched GM soybean. It seemed to be that many Korean consumers do not make decisions of acceptance or rejection of GM floods not on the basis of biotechnology but on the basis of the word(s) used to describe the products, such as herbicide and vitamin. Only 4% of Korean consumers responded that GM foods were the greatest safety-threatening factor of Korean foods and that the most interested information on food labels was whether the food was produced by biotechnology.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.156-160
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• 2013

A duplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method was developed to detect unapproved genetically modified (GM) potato (EH92-527-1) in Korea. The UDP-glucose pyrophosphorylase (UGP) gene was selected as an endogenous reference gene for potato and used to validate the specificity for 14 different crops. The primer pair EH92-F/R was designed to amplify the junction sequence between the genome and transgenic region introduced in GM potato. Its specificity was also validated using several different GM events. The detection limit of the duplex PCR method is approximately 0.05%. This duplex PCR method could be useful for monitoring cultivation of unauthorized GM potato in Korea.

• Journal of Science and Technology Studies
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.31-66
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• 2011

The main issue in Korean debates over genetically modified (GM) foods have been government's responsibility to guarantee consumers' right-to-know and make informed choice. Counter-experts' critique over the current regulatory processes based upon substantial equivalence have not been widely publicized. Through interviews and textual analysis, this paper explored three groups' performances in Korean GM food controversies-regulatory scientists, civil society organizations, and counter-experts. Analytic focus was made upon how each of the groups interact with current GM food regulations. While making conflicts with regulatory scientists and their 'discourse of compliance with global standards,' counter-experts were excluded from regulatory processes. This article suggests that the processes and contexts in which counter-experts failed to form strong alliance with other groups need to be examined in order to further understand the specific contours of Korean GM food controversies.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.1155-1161
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• 2003

A three-year (2000-2002) survey on consumer's awareness and perception of genetically-modified (GM) foods was conducted on random samples of Korean consumers. More than 65% of the respondents were exposed to some information related to GM foods. The greatest benefit of the development of GM foods was thought to be their remedy of potential food shortages in the future. More than 90% of Korean consumers wanted GM foods to be labeled. About 18% of the respondents would buy GM foods voluntarily, whereas over 46% would not until they knew more about the product. Only 39% of Korean consumers were found to have realized that food items origination from plants contained genes. More consumers responded that they would not buy herbicide-resistant GM soybean and buy vitamin-enriched GM soybean instead. Many Korean consumers appeared to make decisions of acceptance or rejection of GM foods not on the basis of biotechnology, but on the basis of the word(s) used to describe the products, such as herbicide and vitamin. Only 4% of Korean consumers responded that GM foods were the greatest threat to the safety of Korean foods.

• Food Science and Industry
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• v.52 no.2
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• pp.130-139
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• 2019

Safety of genetically modified foods (GM foods) in Korea is evaluated according to "Food Sanitation Act" and "Regulation on safety evaluation for GM foods" based on the concept of substantial equivalence. In which cases a person who imports, develops or manufactures GM foods for the purpose of eating imports GM foods for the first time, he/she shall undergo a safety evaluation of the relevant foods, etc. by Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS). And in which cases ten years have elapsed since GM foods underwent safety evaluation, they shall be re-evaluated for their safety. As of April 2019, a total of 199 events have been approved by MFDS and they are 169 events of GM crops including soybean (29), maize (87), cotton (29), canola (14), sugar beet (1), potato (4), alfalfa (5), 6 events of GM microorganisms (GMM) and 24 events of GM food additives originated from GMM.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.105-109
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• 2010

This study was conducted to analyze nutrient composition of a genetically modified $\beta$-carotene biofortified rice (GM rice), developed by the Rural Development Admistration in Korea. The nutritional constituents of GM rice were compared with those of the parental rice cultivar 'Nakdong' as a non-GM control to access nutritional equivalence. Proximate components (moisture, starch, protein, lipid, and ash) of the GM rice were similar to those of the conventional non-GM rice. $\beta$-Carotene contents of GM brown and milled rice were 2.35, 2.03 ${\mu}g/g$(d.b.), respectively. There were no significant differences between the GM and non-GM rice with respect to most of their nutrient composition, despite minor differences in most amino acids and minerals. This result demonstrated that the nutritional composition of this GM rice would be equivalent to that of the parental non-GM rice without major changes in its chemical contents.