The survey, commissioned by the Asian Food Information Centre (AFIC), was conducted in several urban centres in China, Indonesia and the Philippines last year. The purpose of the survey, a follow-up to an earlier survey conducted in five South East Asian countries in 1999, was to gauge the knowledge and attitudes of Asian consumers to food biotechnology or genetically modified foods.

Says AFIC's Georgina Cairns, "Many of those who are passionate advocates 'for' or 'against' biotechnology foods are fond of quoting surveys of public opinion in Europe. Results of these surveys are sometimes used as a predictor of public opinion in Asia."

Cairns added that the 2002 survey "demonstrates that citizens of Asia remain open-minded on this topic and wish to know more about the technology and how it might benefit them and their families in the future."

In March 2002, 600 street interviews were conducted in four cities; Metro Manila, Jakarta, Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. Survey questions focused on people's perceptions and concerns about food and nutrition. The 1999 survey had covered Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines.

Consumers expressed high concern about the food they ate, with Indonesians being most concerned (99%), followed by the Chinese (95%) and the Filipinos (93%). When probed further on what these concerns were, respondents mentioned nutritional value, diseases that could be passed from animals to humans, microbial contamination and pesticide residues. These are real concerns that food safety agencies in the region have. Biotechnology-derived foods, however, were not one of the concerns volunteered.

As expected, knowledge and awareness about biotechnology and its applications were low. More than a third of respondents admitted to be "not at all aware" of terms like "biotechnology" and "genetic modification." Those who reported some awareness of biotechnology associated it with technological improvements made to foods.

Concomitant knowledge of the technology was also low. When respondents were asked if they had eaten DNA, only two out of five people gave the correct answer - "yes".  Only one in three recognised that the statement "Ordinary soybeans do not contain genes while genetically modified ones do" was false.  Incidentally, consumers in more developed European and North American countries fare little better on these questions in similar surveys.

Despite the sporadic and oftentimes sensational media attention on biotechnology and genetic modification, the results of the survey indicated that while the media had succeeded in creating awareness of the issue, it did little to improve understanding of the topic," says Cairns. Respondents named high-profile examples like rice and tomatoes that had received substantial media focus as biotech foods › an expected result since respondents admitted that mass media, especially newspapers and television, were their most common source of information on biotechnology.

More than half of the respondents also believed that biotech foods were already part of their diet, though a small proportion (less than one in five) believed they were not. Furthermore, almost all respondents reported that they had not taken any action to avoid or seek out biotechnology derived foods.       

When asked if they would buy food that had been modified with biotechnology to improve nutrition, taste, freshness or to protect the environment, Asian consumers were overwhelmingly supportive.  In all the questions, more than 80% of the respondents said they were "likely to buy" biotechnology food with these benefits.  In addition, more than 80% of the respondents were willing to try snacks made with biotech ingredients.

This attitude is in sharp contrast with European consumers.  In the European Commission's Eurobarometer survey conducted in 2000, two thirds of Europeans said that they would not buy genetically modified fruit, even if it tasted better.

This openness seems to stem from Asian consumers' perception that biotechnology would deliver benefits.

Respondents were positive about the broad range of potential benefits that biotechnology-derived foods may offer to consumers," says Cairns.

Respondents were able to cite almost four times as many advantages compared to disadvantages. Among these anticipated benefits were: improved nutrition, eating quality and shelf life. Nevertheless there were some who cited possible side-effects, 'inaccessibility of the technology' and 'the addition of chemicals harmful to the body' as possible disadvantages.

In all the countries surveyed, biotechnology labelling was not suggested as one of the items they would like to see on labels. Instead, consumers asked for labelling of expiry dates, ingredients and nutritional value, country of origin, and in Indonesia, halal (permitted foods according to Islamic dietary principles) labelling. 

The survey's labelling results differ from some conducted by interest groups in the region because it sought to define what people actually wanted to see on labels rather than prompting respondents on the issue of biotechnology labelling.

Generally the survey results were consistent with results of the earlier AFIC study. Asian consumers continue to show cautious optimism about the application of biotechnology to food and would like to receive more information.

Thailand's Dr Darunee Edwards, deputy director of the Centre for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering said, "Thai consumers are not really concerned whether products involved genetic modification or not, as long as they were safe, of good quality and not expensive."

Similarly in the Philippines, Dr Evelyn Mae Tecson-Mendoza, a research scientist at the Institute of Plant Breeding in the University of the Philippines, asserts that the government and scientists have made headway in convincing the public and the media on the benefits of biotechnology. A concerted effort by academia, the industry and government agencies have also been successful, she said, in better explaining issues of biotechnology to members of the public.

The results of the survey also corroborate well with an earlier, broad study conducted by Professor Thomas Hoban in North America, Europe and Asia in collaboration with Environics International Inc.

Generally Asian consumers mirror the optimism and acceptance of biotechnology reflected in North America. As Asian countries seek to feed themselves in more sustainable ways, biotechnology is a means that is increasingly compelling as health and nutritional benefits become more evident.

Says Prof Hoban, "Many Asian countries like China and India are actively pursuing biotechnology development and Asian leaders and scientists realise the need to speak up for themselves instead of relying on European paternalism."

However, the survey also drove home the sobering message that actual knowledge among consumers was still low and the mass media still has a very important role to play in ensuring accurate and science-based information is clearly delivered.