Asian consumers and Food Biotechnology

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Asian consumers and Food Biotechnology

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We hear a lot from other countries about consumer attitudes towards food biotechnology. But just what do consumers in Asia think about genetically modified foods? To find out, the Asian Food Information Centre (AFIC) undertook the first-ever consumer research in Asia on the level of knowledge and attitudes of consumers in Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia.

AFIC undertook qualitative research followed by quantitative research involving a total of 847 face-to-face interviews. The study was conducted in February to March 1999, with men and women aged 18 to 65 years.

The main findings were:

Few respondents claimed to understand the term "food biotechnology" although more than half had read or heard something about it.

When the meaning of food biotechnology was explained to respondents, the reaction was quite positive, especially in Indonesia and the Philippines.

When asked to rate the relative importance of possible concerns that they may have about the food supply, respondents in Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia ranked nutritional value as their greatest concern. In Thailand, concerns over nutritional value ranked second to pesticide and chemical content.

Biotechnology was not raised as a food-related concern by consumers in any country. When prompted, consumers in Thailand and Malaysia ranked food biotechnology as their least concern while in the Philippines and Indonesia, food biotechnology ranked as the second least concern after food irradiation.

Most people are more concerned about food quality (including taste and freshness), nutritional value and the level of pesticides or chemicals in foods.

Only a few respondents claimed to have negative feelings about biotechnology. When probed on why they felt this way, the main reason was a lack of information on which to base their decision.

The majority of respondents in Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand would try foods produced using biotechnology. One exception is some consumers in Thailand who believe that they do not have enough information to decide whether or not to eat these foods.

When biotechnology was explained to them, respondents felt that the main benefits were improved food quality, improved nutritional value and increased yield.

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