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MEDIA RELEASE National Poll and Cross-Country Protest Demonstrate Consumers Won't be Fooled by GE Foods
(OTTAWA) As activists across the country prepare for a day of protest against genetically engineered (GE) foods, a national poll released today reveals that a consumer revolt on GE foods may be brewing, says The Council of Canadians. According to the poll conducted for The Council of Canadians by Environics Research Group, three-quarters (75%) of Canadians familiar with GE foods are worried about their safety and almost all (95%) want GE foods labeled as such. A similarly high number (95%) want consumers to be able to buy non-GE foods, and over two-thirds (71%) would even be willing to pay more to get them. Moreover, most respondents (56%) are not confident in the federal government's ability to protect their health and safety when it comes to GE foods - although grocery retailers say they depend on consumer confidence in government testing. "The results of this poll demonstrate that a genuine consumer revolt is brewing against GE foods," said Jennifer Story, Health Protection Campaigner with The Council of Canadians. "As the country's biggest grocery chain, Loblaws/Superstores has an obligation to protect consumers by removing foods that have not been proven safe or, at least, to only carry foods that are clearly labeled as containing genetically engineered ingredients." The poll results (see below) are being released one day before members of the Council, Greenpeace, Sierra Club of Canada and other organizations stage a massive April Fool's Day protest outside Loblaws/Superstores in over 30 Canadian cities. Activists are demanding that the food retail giant stop fooling with Canadians' health and remove GE foods from its shelves. Loblaws has continued to insist that it has faith in the government's testing and approval of GE foods, but the results of the Environics poll released today suggest that a majority of informed customers do not share that faith and clearly want grocery stores to offer GE-free foods. The telephone poll, which surveyed 902 Canadians earlier this year, is accurate within 3.3 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. The Council has been spearheading a national consumer campaign to have GE foods removed from store shelves until they are proven safe to eat. Increasing numbers of consumers, scientists and agricultural professionals are calling on the federal government to undertake long-term, independent testing of GE foods to ensure their safety - a step both the government and the GE food industry have resisted. -30- Results of Environics Poll on Canadian Consumer Attitudes to Genetically Engineered Foods March 31, 2000 Environics Research Group was commissioned by The Council of Canadians to conduct a national poll on consumer attitudes to genetically engineered foods. The telephone poll, which surveyed 902 Canadians between December 22, 1999 and January 16, 2000, is accurate within 3.3 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. The following questions were asked of people who said they were somewhat or very familiar with "genetically engineered" or "genetically modified" foods: Q1. Do you strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree or strongly disagree with each of the following statements: a. I worry about the safety of genetically engineered foods
b. Genetically engineered foods should always be labelled as such.
c. Consumers should be able to buy food that is not genetically engineered.
d. I would prefer to buy non-genetically engineered foods, even if they were slightly more expensive.
Q2. How confident are you in the federal government's ability to protect the safety and health of Canadians when it comes to genetically engineered food? Are you...?
Q3. Do you strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree, or strongly disagree that Canada should be able to refuse to import genetically engineered foods from other countries if there are concerns about health or environmental safety?
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MEDIA ARCHIVESGE Free Canada
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