To: Biotechnology Australia <ba@isr.gov.au>, Queensland
Bioindustries Office <qldbiotech@sd.qld.gov.au>
Subject: Unimpressed
Date: Tue, 30 Nov 1999 1:16 PM
French not impressed with GMOs - survey
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FRANCE: November 30, 1999
PARIS - More than one in two French people have serious reservations about the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and 91 percent say information about their use is inadequate, a poll published yesterday showed.
Groupe CSA TMO pollsters interviewed 1,007 French people aged 15 and over about their attitude to GMOs - foods such as maize and soybean oil bioengineered to resist disease.
The poll found that 24 percent of French people were against GMOs and highly mistrustful about information provided on the packaging of foods containing them. They said cultivation of GMO foods should be forbidden in France, represented an ecological risk and could have serious health risks.
Another 32 percent said they were worried and mistrustful about information concerning GMOs and recommended waiting for more information about their impact before using them. Added together, that showed 56 percent of French people either opposed to or anxious about GMOs, the poll found.
In a separate question, 91 percent of those polled said information about GMOs was insufficient, and 83 percent advised waiting to learn more before accepting their use.
A quarter of those surveyed said they did not trust the French government over the issue and 21 percent said they mistrusted European experts from Brussels.
The survey also found European food brands were more highly trusted than U.S. brands with regard to information about bioengineered foods, but gave no statistics for that finding.
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
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