After a decade of consumer attitudinal research (1997 to 2006), it is clear that a majority of consumers are confident in the U.S. food supply and express little to no concern about food and agricultural biotechnology. A significant majority also has no marked concern about the labeling of foods produced through the use of biotechnology. Consumers have less favorable attitudes, however, toward animal biotechnology, particularly cloning. Higher levels of awareness about plant and animal biotechnology, information about the benefits of biotechnology, and government safety assurances have all had positive effects on consumer attitudes. Nevertheless , many consumers are unaware of the use of biotechnology in food production, and there is a clear need for science-based information on the subject that can be directed to those members of the public who remain uninformed. Check out the findings of the 2006 Cogent Research survey of U.S. adult consumer attitudes toward food biotechnology commissioned by the International Food Information Council at
http://ific.org/research.
