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Genetically Modified Foods (genetically + modified_food)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Business, Economics, Finance and Accounting	60%
Chemistry	20%

Selected Abstracts

Comparative Advantage in Demand: Experimental Evidence of Preferences for Genetically Modified Food in the United States and European Union

JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, Issue 1 2006
Jayson L. Lusk
Q130; Q170; Q180; C190 Abstract The United States (US) exports more than US$6 billion in agricultural commodities to the European Union(EU) each year, but one issue carries the potential to diminish this trade: use of biotechnology in food production. The EU has adopted more stringent policies towards biotechnology than the US. Understanding differences in European and American policies towards genetically modified (GM) foods requires a greater understanding of consumers' attitudes and preferences. This paper reports results from the first large-scale, cross-Atlantic study to analyse consumer demand for genetically modified food in a non-hypothetical market environment. We strongly reject the frequent if convenient assumption in trade theory that consumer preferences are identical across countries: the median level of compensation demanded by English and French consumers to consume a GM food is found to be more than twice that in any of the US locations. Results have important implications for trade theory, which typically focuses on differences in specialization, comparative advantage and factor endowments across countries, and for on-going trade disputes at the World Trade Organization. [source]

Mendel in the Kitchen: A Scientist's View of Genetically Modified Foods

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY, Issue 10 2005
Ioannis S Arvanitoyannis
First page of article [source]

From Habermas's communicative theory to practice on the internet

INFORMATION SYSTEMS JOURNAL, Issue 4 2003
Michael S. H. Heng
Abstract., Communication plays a crucial role in influencing our social life. However, communication has often been distorted by unequal opportunities to initiate and participate in it. Such conditions have been criticized by Habermas who argues for an ideal speech situation, i.e. a situation of democratic communication with equal opportunities for social actors to communicate in an undistorted manner. This ideal situation is partially being realized by the advent of the internet. The paper describes how an internet-based tool for collaborative authoring was conceptualized, developed and then deployed with Habermas's Critical Social Theory as a guiding principle. The internet-based electronic forum, known by its acronym GRASS (Group Report Authoring Support System), is a web tool supporting the production of concise group reports that give their readers an up-to-date and credible overview of the positions of various stakeholders on a particular issue. Together with people and procedures, it is a comprehensive socio-technical information system that can play a role in resolving societal conflicts. A prototype of GRASS has been used by an environmental group as a new way in which to create a more equal exchange and comparison of ideas among various stakeholders in the debate on genetically modified food. With the widespread use of the internet, such a forum has the potential to become an emergent form of communication for widely dispersed social actors to conduct constructive debate and discussion. The barriers to such a mode of communication still remain , in the form of entrenched power structures, and limitations to human rationality and responsibility. However, we believe that the support provided by the comprehensive system of technological functionality as well as procedural checks and balances provided by GRASS may considerably reduce the impact of these obstacles. In this way, the ideal speech situation may be approximated more closely in reality. [source]

Comparative Advantage in Demand: Experimental Evidence of Preferences for Genetically Modified Food in the United States and European Union

Consumers' search behaviour for GM food information

JOURNAL OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, Issue 3-4 2005
Ge Gao
We report on the search for information on a genetically modified food by a sample of Canadian consumers. In the course of a computer-based survey on consumer choices, some 445 respondents, drawn from a large representative panel of Canadian consumers, had the opportunity for voluntary access to information related to a genetically modified food through hyperlinks. Slightly less than half actually sought the information. The economic construct of benefit,cost reasoning was applied to assess possible reasons for the different patterns of information access seen in the study. Gender, employment status, rural or urban residency and the number of children in the household affected the probability that respondents would access information. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Consumer benefits and acceptance of genetically modified food

JOURNAL OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, Issue 3-4 2005
John G. Knight
Much of the resistance towards genetically modified foods appears to stem from public perceptions that they offer no consumer benefits. In order to test whether clearly defined consumer benefits would change behaviour, a purchasing experiment has been conducted in New Zealand, where the genetically modified issue has been highly politicized. Cherries labelled as spray free-genetically modified, organic or conventional were offered for sale in a roadside stall, with price levels manipulated to test price sensitivity of the different options. Approximately 27% of consumers proved willing to purchase genetically modified labelled cherries when all three types were priced at the prevailing market price, and this market share increased to 60% when the price was discounted by 15% and organic was priced at a 15% premium. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

The role of political myth in the international conflict over genetically modified foods and crops

ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY AND GOVERNANCE, Issue 6 2007
Sarah Lieberman
Abstract Although the controversy over genetically modified (GM) foods and crops has generated some well known myths, such as ,frankenfoods', there has been little analysis of the political role played by these myths. Yet the significance of myth in the GM debate is considerable: indeed, by reflecting and reinforcing the political stances of the major protagonists, myths have themselves become important components in the conflict. With the aid of theoretical tools derived from Laclau, we examine the notion of political myth, and find that it has three levels: factual error, social meaning and political hegemony. We apply this theory to the GM controversy, distinguishing between substantive GM myths, such as frankenfoods, and procedural GM myths, such as the EU moratorium on GM products. We conclude that if such political myths become powerful enough, they could transform themselves into dominant hegemons , i.e. what Laclau calls social imaginaries , and begin to dictate GM policies across the globe. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [source]

Product attributes, consumer benefits and public approval of genetically modified foods

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CONSUMER STUDIES, Issue 5 2003
Ferdaus Hossain
Abstract The use of biotechnology in food production has generated considerable debate involving the benefits and risks associated with its use. Consumer acceptance of genetically modified foods is a critical factor that will affect the future of this technology. Using data from a national survey, this study examines how public acceptance of food biotechnology is related to consumers' socioeconomic and value attributes as well as the benefits associated with the use of this technology. Empirical results suggest that consumer acceptance of food biotechnology increases considerably when the use of this technology brings tangible benefits for the public. Consumers with different socioeconomic and demographic attributes have diverging views of food biotechnology only when its use brings specific benefits to them. When the use of genetic technology confers no additional benefit, public attitudes towards genetically modified foods are driven primarily by their scientific knowledge, views of scientists and corporations associated with biotechnology as well as public trust and confidence in government. [source]

Consumers' beliefs, attitudes and intentions towards genetically modified foods, based on the 'perceived safety vs. benefits' perspective

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY, Issue 4 2005
Ioannis S. Arvanitoyannis
Summary It has been repeatedly claimed that the application of genetic engineering in the field of agricultural and food production is both beneficial and advantageous. However, biotechnology is developing in an environment where public concerns about food safety and environmental protection are steadily increasing. The present study aims at gaining an insight into Greek consumers' beliefs, attitudes and intentions towards genetically modified (GM) food products. The objectives of this study are summarized as follows (i) to provide evidence that consumer beliefs are built around the ,safety-benefits' axis, and (ii) to segment the Greek market in terms of consumer beliefs about GM food products and identify a number of clusters with clear-cut behavioural profiles. Although the overall attitude of Greek consumers towards GM food is negative, the research very interestingly concludes that there exists a market segment of substantial size, whose beliefs about GM food appears to be positive. This finding suggests that there is not a ,consensus' regarding the rejection of GM foods in the Greek market as one might have expected thus ,encouraging' the implementation of adequate marketing strategies to target this segment of ,early adopters' in the first place. [source]

An Open Mind Wants More: Opinion Strength and the Desire for Genetically Modified Food Labeling Policy

JOURNAL OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, Issue 3 2008
SONJA RADAS
Two opposing viewpoints exist in the literature; some suggest consumers are unconcerned and do not desire any genetically modified labeling, while others indicate the opposite. The mixed results may be because consumers make finer distinctions than surveys have called for, and have evaluation schemes sensitive to information about the benefits and risks associated with genetically modified foods. We find consumers are quite nuanced in their preferences for genetically modified labeling policy. Unexpectedly, consumers with less-defined views desire mandatory labeling of the most stringent type, while consumers with stronger viewpoints (either pro- or con-genetically modified) are more relaxed in their labeling requirements. [source]

Consumer benefits and acceptance of genetically modified food

Consumer acceptance of genetically modified foods.

JOURNAL OF THE SCIENCE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE, Issue 12 2005
Edited by RE Evenson, V Santaniello.
No abstract is available for this article. [source]

Sensory analysis of calcium-biofortified lettuce

PLANT BIOTECHNOLOGY JOURNAL, Issue 1 2009
Sunghun Park
Summary Vegetables represent an attractive means of providing increased calcium nutrition to the public. In this study, it was demonstrated that lettuce expressing the deregulated Arabidopsis H+/Ca2+ transporter sCAX1 (cation exchanger 1) contained 25%,32% more calcium than controls. These biofortified lettuce lines were fertile and demonstrated robust growth in glasshouse growth conditions. Using a panel of highly trained descriptive panellists, biofortified lettuce plants were evaluated and no significant differences were detected in flavour, bitterness or crispness when compared with controls. Sensory analysis studies are critical if claims are to be made regarding the efficacy of biofortified foods, and may be an important component in the public acceptance of genetically modified foods. [source]

The effect of knowledge types on consumer-perceived risk and adoption of genetically modified foods

PSYCHOLOGY & MARKETING, Issue 2 2007
Deon Klerck
Scientists have asserted that genetically modified (GM) food offers financial, environmental, health, and quality benefits to society, but the realization of such benefits depends on consumer acceptance of this new technology. Consumer concerns about GM food raise questions about what consumers know about GM food and to what extent this knowledge translates into their evaluations of GM products. The present research empirically examines the effect of both objective and subjective knowledge on perceived risk and, in turn, key consumer behaviors associated with GM food. The results reveal that objective knowledge about GM food significantly reduces performance and psychological risks, whereas subjective knowledge influences only physical risk, and the valence of that impact depends on the level of the consumer's objective knowledge. Furthermore, different risk types enhance consumers' information search and reduce their propensity to buy GM food. The overall findings thus suggest the need for cooperation among government, scientific institutions, and the food industry to foster effective communication strategies that increase consumers' objective knowledge, reduce their risk perceptions, and encourage consumer adoptions of GM technology. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source]