Determining awareness, attitudes, and behaviors towards genetically modified food among consumers in Durban, South Africa.
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Date
2017
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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.
Description
Masters Degree. University of Kwazulu-Natal, Durban.