Determining awareness, attitudes, and behaviors towards genetically modified food among consumers in Durban, South Africa.

Abstract

Genetic modification has been in South Africa since the 1980’s as a means to boost crop yield, however, to a consumer there is limited information available as to the understanding and known side effects of continuous consumption if any. Most manufacturers and retailers do not stipulate on the packaging items that contain traces of genetically modified organisms or was grown with genetically modified organisms. While most consumers in South Africa will claim they have heard of the terms GMO and MSG, few consumers will be able to correctly define the meanings of the terms or be able to say why they perceive it to either be good or bad for their health. The aim of the study was to determine the awareness, attitudes and practices regarding GMO food product. This was a cross-sectional quantitative study conducted among 104 consumers from the Pavilion shopping center in Durban who were recruited systematically. Results showed that majority of the participants were aware of genetic modification that happens in food products. While most of the participants said they regard modification as negative, this attitude did not effect any negative purchase and consumption behavior toward food products that are genetically modified. Whether positive or negative the attitude, most of the participants in the study claimed they would still buy and be willing to buy if food products that they were aware contained genetically modified organisms. The study includes a correlation analysis which indicated that there were significant negative relationships that existed between awareness and purchase of GMO food product (p<0.05). The study also found a positive relationship between attitudes and purchase of the products (p<0.05). The study aimed to determine whether the market for organic food in South Africa is as large as processed food, this appears to be a niche market that is only appealing to those who can afford it. The results for this study is beneficial to manufacturers and retailers that have a role to play in cleaning up their labelling and being transparent in the content of the food items.