Rotulagem de produtos geneticamente modificados: percepção e aceitabilidade dos consumidores de Águas Lindas sobre segurança alimentar e nutricional dos alimentos transgênicos

Abstract

Transgenics are living beings created artificially with techniques that allow the transfer of genes from one organism to another, which can change or cancel some specific characteristics of the organism or create other characteristics that did not exist before in that living being. (MUGNOL; et. al. 2000 ). Almost two decades after legalization in Brazil, transgenics still divide opinion regarding food safety. Even so, they occupy more than half of the planted area in Brazil, mainly in cerrado regions. Today, several transgenic products are widely present on supermarket shelves. In Águas Lindas de Goiás, transgenic foods and derivatives such as soy oil, corn, cookies, wheat flour, pasta, tomato extracts and many others, are already part of the population's diet . In this research, we sought to know about the perception and acceptability of consumers of Águas Lindas regarding the nutritional information present on the labels of the packaging of transgenic food products. The research was exploratory and quantitative, with the application of an online questionnaire, with the participation of 65 consumers of food products in general. The survey showed that only 20.6% of consumers interviewed usually consult labels, 63.5% know what transgenics are, 55.6% buy or consume transgenic foods, 44.4% consider transgenics dangerous for their health, 65.1% prefer non-GMO foods. When evaluating the packaging of a transgenic product, 76.2% would feel encouraged to read more information, if it had a QR code directing the consumer to a website containing more detailed information about the product.