As national regulators work to develop mandatory GMO food labels, new research by UVM's Jane Kolodinsky finds that consumer opposition to GMOs dropped significantly after Vermont adopted mandatory labels. Credit: ©Sally McCay, UVM Photo

Led by Jane Kolodinsky, an applied economist in UVM's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the study compared levels of consumer opposition to GMO foods in Vermont—the only U.S. state to have implemented a mandatory labeling policy—with consumer attitudes in the rest of the U.S. The analysis showed opposition to GMO food fell by 19% in Vermont after the implementation of mandatory labels.

The study is the first to examine the real-world impact of consumer attitudes toward GMO foods in a state where consumers were exposed to mandatory GMO labels.

"Our findings put to bed the idea that GMO labels will be seen as a warning label," said Kolodinsky, professor and chair of the Department of Community Development and Applied Economics and a Fellow of UVM's Gund Institute for the Environment. "What we're seeing is that simple disclosures, like the ones implemented in Vermont, are not going to scare people away from these products."

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