Majority uneasy about GM food in Canada

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Majority uneasy about GM food in Canada

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Mon, 11 Oct 2004 10:01:34 +0100

 

 

 

Majority uneasy about GM food in Canada

http://www.gmwatch.org

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Focus on the Americas

 

EXCERPTS: Unease over genetically modified food continues to rise among

Canadians with three out of five saying such foods provide more risks

than benefits, according to a recently released federal government poll.

 

" Canadians are not yet at a point where they feel comfortable with

genetically modified food. In fact, comfort levels have continually

declined, " said a summary of the results prepared for senior federal

officials.

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Majority uneasy about GM food

Canadians cool to altered crops

Poll shows most favour labelling

PETER CALAMAI, SCIENCE REPORTER

Toronto Star, 11 October, 2004.

 

OTTAWA - Unease over genetically modified food continues to rise among

Canadians with three out of five saying such foods provide more risks

than benefits, according to a recently released federal government poll.

 

This concern translated into a majority (53 per cent) of adult

Canadians telling pollsters working for Ottawa that they were

uncomfortable

buying foods with genetically modified ingredients. Only 31 per cent gave

the same answer in the first such survey five years ago.

 

Three in four Canadians indicated support for mandatory labelling if

foodstuffs contain any GM ingredients, a move the federal government has

consistently rejected as unnecessary.

 

The food industry estimates that between two-thirds and three-quarters

of processed foods already contain GM ingredients or come from plants

than have been genetically engineered.

 

" Canadians are not yet at a point where they feel comfortable with

genetically modified food. In fact, comfort levels have continually

declined, " said a summary of the results prepared for senior federal

officials.

 

Carried out in March by Decima Research, the telephone survey also

found that the proportion of Canadians " very willing " to hand over their

genetic information to researchers had plunged to 37 per cent from 56 per

cent a year previous.

 

This growing concern over privacy eventually may " affect views about

how health research is done and how people's personal genetic information

is used in that research, " said Decima's summary, quietly posted on the

website of the Canadian Biotechnology Secretariat.

 

The summary provided only selected results from the telephone survey of

778 Canadians and 781 Americans done between March 19 and 30. A sample

of this size reflects general public opinion within 3.5 percentage

points, 19 times out of 20. The margin of error is greater when comparing

results between Canada and the U.S.

 

 

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