Among consumers who are aware of living modified organisms (“LMO”), a majority is found to highly expect that LMO can be used for its uses for food, environment, and energy sectors.
The Korea Biosafety Clearing House (KBCH) conducted an opinion poll with the Korea Research, an independent opinion research group, between October 28 and November 14 in 2008, asking 1,000 Korean adults aged between 19 and 64 to find out their awareness and attitudes toward LMO and biosafety.
Some 83.3 percent of the respondents said that they have heard of or were aware of LMO, an approximately 18 percent increase from 65.2 percent in 2007, probably due to the media coverage of the Korea Starch Sugar Association’s import of genetically modified corn for food use in early 2008. Nonetheless, consumers’ knowledge about LMO was found to be low.
Moreover, 70.7 percent of those responded said that they felt uneasy about LMO for food and agricultural uses while 66.3 percent cite concerns about its use in the livestock industry. On the other hand, relatively fewer people expressed their anxiety about its use in the medical, pharmaceutical, environmental purification, industrial biotech, and energy sectors - 23.9 percent, 12.8 percent, 11.7 percent, and 11.2 percent respectively.
Besides, an awareness survey of GMO was conducted by the Korea Food Industry Association last October. According to the deliberative opinion poll, people who answered positively to the question about whether they would buy GMO-derived food were 42 percent of those surveyed, a 5 percent increase from 37 percent while those who said no to the question decreased from 42 percent to 30 percent, indicating that adequate information can raise consumers’ acceptance of GMO. According to the ‘GMO Awareness Survey’ carried out by Consumers’ Union of Korea, 76 percent among 154 lawmakers and 64 members of the Seoul Municipal Assembly said that food products should be labeled whether they contain genetically modified ingredients even if no GMO is detected. However, the survey suggests that their knowledge about genetically recombinant technology was very low overall, requiring those who are in the crucial decision-making position to pay more attention to public safety and the development of biotechnology.
* The deliberative Opinion Poll, first proposed in 1988 in the United States, involves a random sample of citizens relating to a particular theme. They are polled with no information provided and then are subject to the second poll after sufficient deliberations and discussions about the given theme in order to trace a change in public opinion and thus reach a social consensus. In Korea the poll was conducted the poll for the first time in August 31 2005 to develop the August 31 Real Estate Measures.
The Korea Biosafety Clearing House (KBCH) carries out an extensive and thorough survey of domestic consumers to identify their attitudes, awareness, acceptance, and concerns about GMO in a bid to comply with the “Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety” and the “The Act on Trans-boundary Movements of Living Modified Organisms, etc”.