Untitled Document

Mr. Hetherington will present the results of a pan-European opinion research conducted in February 2002. The survey has been carried out in five European countries, including France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy and the Netherlands, representing over 260 million citizens and almost 70% of Europe's population.

Specific topics included in the research are factors most likely to negatively impact health, perceived safety of food versus 20 years ago, and the public's view on the utility of food product labels and other sources of food information. The topic of biotechnology has also been examined, in particular the effect of GM food labels on the intention to buy and the extent to which different benefit messages impact this intention to buy.

It clearly appears that consumers generally feel more confident about their food and that although food safety remains a subject of concern, it comes well after other risks such as smoking, pollution or stress.

As far as consumer's willingness to buy gm food is concerned, it tends to evolve positively as soon as gm products bring clear benefits for the consumers, especially if those benefits are nutritional or environmental.

Concerning the question on information source about quality: consumers give priority to labelling. However in-store communications means seem to attract more and more attention as well.

The results will be compared with the findings from the 2001 Food Issues Monitor, derived from data collected in nine different countries spanning four continents.

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