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Eighty-two percent of Iowa grocery shoppers pay attention to food labels when they shop, according to the latest Iowa Farm Bureau Food and Farm Index® conducted this winter. However, their understanding of those labels is, at times, inconsistent with the findings of food experts Iowa grocery shoppers trust most and demonstrates overall confusion about what the labels really mean.
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Over three-quarters of Iowa grocery shoppers (76%) believe that . . . ‘non-GMO’ labels mean the product is safer, although neither of these labels are regulated nor verified by the federal government.
Yet, when asked to name the source they trust most for information about GMOs, the highest percentage of shoppers rank the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) number one. FDA has consistently supported GMOs as safe. . . .
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The new Iowa Farm Bureau Food and Farm Index® also shows that farmers are ranked by the second highest percentage (19%) as the most trusted source when it comes to information on GMOs. . . .
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“The results seem to point towards an opportunity for farmers to . . . do a better job in explaining why farmers choose the technology they do to grow crops or raise livestock,” said Craig Hill, president of the Iowa Farm Bureau. . . .
“What’s lacking,” says Hill, “is an understanding of how farming practices ultimately benefit farmers and Iowa grocery shoppers. That’s particularly true of GMOs.”
In fact, the new Food and Farm Index also finds that most Iowa grocery shoppers would be influenced to purchase a GMO food when they learn how GMOs can help farmers use less herbicide and other pesticides and help produce foods with better nutritional value (61% and 59% respectively).
Read full, original post: Newly Released Survey Reveals Disconnect Between Iowa Grocery Shoppers and the Food Experts They Trust
