As food prices soar and the need to feed more people with fewer resources becomes increasingly challenging, new research from the International Food Information Council (IFIC) shows that more and more people are thinking about the concept of sustainable food production and its role in feeding the world.
According to the group's "2008 Food Biotechnology" survey, awareness of sustainable food production jumped 11pc from 2007 to 2008 (from 30pc to 41pc).
"Clearly, global food issues are on consumers' minds," said IFIC senior vice president Danielle Schor.
"This year's survey shows that feeding the global population is a high priority and people are thinking of long-lasting solutions."
This year marks the 13th annual IFIC "Food Biotechnology" survey and the second year it included questions about sustainability.
When asked to rank five factors related to growing crops in a sustainable way, the factor ranked number one was "growing more food to help feed the growing global population," with "reducing the amount of pesticides needed to produce food" coming in second.
The overall favorable impression of plant biotechnology remained little changed from past years, with 84pc of consumers having favorable or neutral impressions of using biotechnology with plants.
The majority of Americans would be likely to purchase foods from plants produced through biotechnology for specific benefits.
Approximately three-fourths of consumers would be very or somewhat likely to buy a food product made with oils that had been modified by biotechnology to avoid trans fats or to provide more healthful fats, such as omega-3 fatty acids.
Following last year's announcement from the Food & Drug Administration that meat and milk from cloned animals are safe, nearly half of Americans (48pc) said they were "somewhat" or "very" likely to buy these products, which is similar to 2007's result of 46pc.
When asked how likely they would be to buy meat and milk from genetically engineered animals if FDA determined that the products were safe, 65pc said they would be likely to purchase these products, with the percentage of people "very likely" to do so having increased from 12pc in 2006 to 17pc in 2008.
Potential positive impacts of animal biotechnology continue to correlate with increased support among consumers, the IFIC study showed.
Almost two-thirds of consumers (62pc) said they had a positive impression of animal biotechnology when informed that "animal biotechnology can improve the quality and safety of food."
More than half (52pc) reacted positively to the statement that "animal biotechnology can reduce the environmental impact of animal waste."
Despite continuing media attention to food concerns, consumers' overall confidence in the US food supply remains high, according to IFIC.
Sixty-eight percent of Americans indicated that they were "very" or "somewhat" confident in the food supply compared to 69pc last year.
Of those who listed a specific food safety concern, disease and contamination topped the list at 50pc, a significant increase since 2007 (38pc).
Food safety issues of the least concern were biotechnology and processed foods, with 1% each.
Satisfaction with current information on food labels remained high in 2008.
Only 14pc of consumers mentioned information they felt was missing, with less than 1pc specifically mentioning biotechnology.
FDA requires special labeling only when the use of biotechnology introduces an allergen or when it substantially changes the food's nutritional content.
A solid majority of those polled (60pc) "strongly" or "somewhat" support the FDA labeling requirements for food produced using biotechnology.
IFIC said the US results can be compared with those of a similar survey released recently by the Asian Food Information Centre.
That survey showed that in five Asian countries - China, India, Japan, the Philippines and South Korea - crops produced through biotechnology do not generate a high level of concern.
In addition, although most Asian consumers are not familiar with the concept of "sustainable food production," once the concept is explained, a majority believe sustainable food production is important and accept plant biotechnology if the technology contributes to a more sustainable way of producing foods.
Asian consumers are also ready to accept nutritional benefits from biotechnology-derived foods.
However, specific benefits are linked to the dietary habits in each country.
IFIC commissioned Cogent Research of Cambridge, Mass., to conduct the 13th in a series (1997-2008) of quantitative assessments of US adult consumer attitudes toward food biotechnology from July 29 to August 18, 2008. The survey had a sample size of 1000, and the data were weighted on age and education to be nationally representative.
* For additional information and survey details, visit www.IFIC.org.
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