Consumer acceptance, knowledge and attitudes towards organic and genetically modified foods: a cross-sectional study among Turkish university students

The aim of this study is to determine the acceptance, knowledge and attitudes of university students towards organic and genetically modified foods. A randomly selected volunteer group of 600 students (299 male, 301 female), aged between 18-29 years were included in the study in Ankara, Turkey. Data was collected via a questionnaire. The 58.2 % of students have knowledge about organic foods while 33.7 % of them know about genetically modified foods (GMF). According to the departments they were enrolled in, the status of having knowledge about organic foods (OF) did not differ significantly (p>0.05) while having knowledge about genetically modified foods was found to be significantly different (p<0.05). The 53.5% of students were found to consume organic foods because its' production was natural (25.5%), hormone and pesticides free (42.4%) and safe (27.4%). Tomato was the most consumed food (51.7% for GMF, 68.2% for OF). The students considered that genetically modified organisms (GMO) increased the variety of food available for human consumption (36.8%), nutritional value (36.8%) and the efficiency of food production (28.1%). The university students have more positive opinions about organic foods than genetically modified foods. Consumer preferences for the two types of food products (genetic modified and organic) needs future investigations and comparison.