Australians still wary about GM food
ABC Science Online, June 30, 2006 By Stephen Pincock

Australians are becoming more comfortable with new technologies like stem cell research but still have strong reservations about genetically modified foods, a new survey shows.
The survey, conducted by the Australian Centre for Emerging Technologies and Society at Swinburne University in Melbourne, asked more than 1000 people about their views on emerging technologies.
"Overall, Australians are optimistic about science and technology," says Professor Michael Gilding, director of the centre that conducted the survey, the Swinburne National Technology and Science Monitor.
The poll has been conducted each year since 2003 and the latest results were gathered in 2005.
"The interesting thing about the last three years is that people seem to be becoming more comfortable with the technologies that we've been monitoring," Gilding says.
On the subject of stem cell research, Australians seem to be more comfortable compared to 2004, the survey shows.
Research conducted in public institutes garnered a higher approval rating, and men tended to be more comfortable than women with the research.
But when the respondents were asked about genetically modified crops or animals, their reaction was decidedly more negative.
"That was the stand-out from our point of view," Gilding says. "Overall, people are still very uncomfortable with those technologies."
Only 30% said they were comfortable with GM plants for food, the researchers found.
When respondents were asked to rate their comfort level with GM crops, they gave an average score of 3.9 on a scale where zero was 'not at all comfortable' and 10 represented 'very comfortable'.
The survey also found that just 18% of people were comfortable with genetically modifying animals for food, giving an average score of 3.1 out of a possible 10.
In the end, people are probably weighing the perceived risks of GM foods against their benefits, Gilding suggests. "I suppose the bottom line is that they don't see any benefit for themselves."
Craig Cormick, manager of public awareness for the government's Biotechnology Australia, says that broad questions about attitudes to GM food can miss subtleties in the way people think about the issue.
For example, individuals will view the risks and benefits of GM foods differently depending on the food, he says. "Attitudes to GM wheat will be different to doughnuts with GM soy in them."
In other findings, the survey showed that 80% of people agreed that science and technology are continuously improving our quality of life. This figure has been consistently high since the first survey in 2003.
Respondents also said they most strongly trusted science information they get from the CSIRO, universities, hospitals and scientists. In general, they did not trust the media.
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Survey: http://www.swinburne.edu.au/lss/acets/monitor/
2005MonitorFULL.pdf

Web Link: http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/health/Health
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