Consumers Confused By Natural, GMO and Organic Labeling

Researchers have reportedly found that consumers are unsure what “natural,” “organic” and “Non-GMO Project Verified” mean when the phrases appear on food labels. Konstantinos G. Syrengelas et al., “Is the Natural Label Misleading? Examining Consumer Preferences for Natural Beef,” Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, October 2017; Brandon R. McFadden, et al., “Effects of the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard: Willingness to Pay for Labels that Communicate the Presence or Absence of Genetic Modification,” Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, October 2017.

To investigate a petition to the U.S. Department of Agriculture asserting that “natural” labeling misleads consumers, researchers conducted an online choice experiment to determine whether including a definition of “natural” on a label deterred or encouraged study participants to pay a premium for steak. The researchers apparently found that the participants were unwilling to pay a premium if they either identified themselves as familiar with the definition of “natural” or if they were provided with the definition at the time of purchase.

Another October 2017 study in the same journal attempted to examine how consumers understand whether a food has genetically modified ingredients (GMO) and surveyed subjects about their willingness to pay for foods labeled “organic” as opposed to “non-GMO.” Researchers concluded that many of the subjects did not distinguish between the two labels and did not identify differences in the label claims before determining whether they indicated willingness to pay premiums for the “organic” and “non-GMO” products.