Organic Sacramento

Planting seeds for an organic future.

In the news...

Survey: Boost rules on biotech foods

By Mike Lee -- Bee Staff Writer Published 2:15 am PST Monday, November 29, 2004

U.S. consumers want more federal protections on biotech foods, but they also are keen on engineering plants to create cheaper drugs, according to the most recent survey of attitudes about biotechnology.

The results of 1,000 consumer interviews for the Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology show that the nation remains divided about biotechnology, but opinions aren't deeply held.

Pew also found that the public remains largely ignorant about biotech foods, although opposition to them in the food supply has softened since 2001.

Consumers' top interests include using genetically modified, or GM, plants to produce pharmaceutical compounds and to reduce world hunger.

"Consumer attitudes about GM foods have not hardened in the last few years and still can be shaped by new information or new events - either positive or negative," Michael Rodemeyer, executive director of the Pew Initiative, said in a statement.

The organization, which bills itself as a nonpartisan research project, is based in Washington, D.C., and is funded by a grant from the Pew Charitable Trusts.

Pew released similar surveys in 2001 and 2003. Last week, it said consumers' level of knowledge and their opinions about the safety of biotech foods haven't changed much in three years.

It is clear, however, that consumers want a bigger role for government: More than 90 percent of respondents say biotech foods should be labeled, something the U.S. government has resisted on the grounds that biotech foods to date are substantially equivalent to conventional counterparts.

Survey respondents also tended to think there are too few biotech regulations, and 81 percent said the Food and Drug Administration should have to confirm the safety of biotech foods before they come to market even if that means "substantial delays." Currently, the FDA leaves it up to companies to submit to a "consultation" before releasing biotech foods.

Three main federal agencies - the FDA, the Department of Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Agency - have roles in biotech regulation, though there are loopholes, according to a special report about biotech crops by The Bee in June.

Biotechnology has been a hot topic in California, with three counties - Mendocino, Marin and Trinity - banning genetically engineered crops.

Pew's most recent survey results are consistent with what biotech backers said they found in Butte County, where a proposed biotech crop ban on the Nov. 2 ballot was defeated, 61 percent to 39 percent.

Ryan Schohr, a Gridley rice farmer and a "No on Measure D" leader, agreed that the public's knowledge about biotech crops is slim but said concerns decreased as consumers learned more about the technology.

"People became more accepting once they realized that the biotechnology ... ingredients were already in our food supply," Schohr said.

Biotech ingredients are in an estimated 70 percent of processed foods.

Worldwide, an estimated 167 million acres were planted in biotech crops in 2003. A few hundred thousand acres of biotech cotton and corn are planted in California.

Biotech crops typically are resistant to insects or immune to herbicides, which allows farmers to spray entire fields without harming crop plants.

The technology remains controversial because some consumers object to the companies using contracts to prevent farmers from saving biotech seed. Others are concerned about possible unintentional environmental and human health consequences of releasing novel organisms.

About the writer: * The Bee's Mike Lee can be reached at (916)321-1002 or .