Only one in 10 would be likely to buy GMO foods even if they were cheaper

New consumer research from Food Standards Scotland finds “Sale of chlorinated chicken and GM foods are of the greatest concern” to consumers post-Brexit. Only one in 10 would be likely to buy GMO foods even if they were cheaper – though that assumes they would still be labelled.

The percentage of people who were "very concerned" about GM foods and chlorinated chicken was 57%, with 23% being "quite concerned".

This is the second wave of research in 2020 on the perceived effects of Brexit on food. The online survey was sent to people living in Scotland. A total of 1002 completed responses were received.

Key findings:

* There would appear to be strong opposition to lower standards of food.
* Chlorinated chicken and GM foods are of the greatest concern, followed by lowering animal welfare standards.
* Chlorinated chicken is least likely to be purchased, with 3 out of 4 saying they are very unlikely to purchase it.
* Compared with January, there appears to be a slight hardening of opinion with more saying that they are concerned about potential lower standards, and also less likely to purchase poorer quality foods.
* Consumers say that cheaper prices for inferior products will not tempt them: indeed the opposite is true. Just 1 in 10 said they would be likely to buy GM foods if significantly cheaper; least likely to be purchased even if cheaper is chlorinated chicken.
* Half (56%) do not see any reason why they should stock up on any food items.
* Almost 4 out of 5 (78%) of those who would vote to leave see no reason to stock up compared with 48% of those who would vote to remain.