Consumer Knowledge, Perceptions and Acceptance of Genetically Modified Foods among Residents in the Tamale Metropolis, Ghana
The purpose of this study is to measure consumer knowledge, moral/ethical issues, the perception of risk and benefits of GM foods on health and the environment. This study further investigates GM food labelling policy preference and consumer trust in Biotechnology institutions in Ghana. A cross-sectional study design employing simple random sampling was used to administer questionnaires, and the data analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, version 22.0 and AMOS 18. Our results show strong positive linear correlations between acceptance of GM foods and willingness to buy GM foods (Pearson’s r = 0.52, p<0.001) and weak correlations between risk of GM foods and Morality (Pearson’s r = 0.30, p<0.001) and Trust in Biotechnology institutions and willingness to buy (Pearson’s r = 0.20, p<0.001). The majority of respondents (71.7%) favoured mandatory labelling with (43.8%) preferring labelling formats with Biotech Logo, and the statement ‘contains ingredients derived using biotechnology.' Inserted in the ingredients section of the label. Consumer willingness to buy GM foods is positively affected by perceived Benefits and risk associated with GM foods with Moral, ethical issues negatively affecting consumer willingness to buy GM foods.
Tamale, GM Foods, Consumer Knowledge, Biotechnology, Trust
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