Cornucopia’s Take: Pew Research Group’s recently released results from a public opinion survey, noting public opinion is at odds with the “scientific consensus” that GMOs are safe. Interestingly, Pew received funding from the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences (AAAS), a group which promotes GMOs as being safe. Scientific funding must always be taken into account when looking at scientific findings.
New GMO Survey Misleads
Food & Water Watch
by Tim Schwab
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A new public opinion poll from the Pew Research Group, once again, imposes false narratives on the GMO debate and distorts the public discourse on this controversial technology.
The Pew Research Group recently released the results of a new public opinion survey about GMOs—a follow-up to their widely covered 2015 poll that attempted to examine how public opinion is out of synch with the prevailing “scientific consensus.”
Among the more interesting findings is that many Americans do not fully trust scientists—and especially the media—on the topic of GMOs. That’s unfortunate given how important public support is for science and science-based public policy.
But this may not be surprising given the ways that powerful scientific and media outlets have at times misled the public and misrepresented the scientific discourse. This includes Pew’s continued assertions of a “scientific consensus” on GMO safety.
Pew’s newest survey found that only 19 percent of the public thinks scientists have a good understanding of the health effects of eating GMOs, and only 14 percent believe “almost all” scientists think GMOs are safe to eat. This is at odds with the “consensus among scientific experts that GM foods were safe,” Pew asserts.
Curiously, though the work of Pew Research Group is rooted in polling data, it conducted no surveys of scientific experts to support its assertion of a “scientific consensus.” Rather, it cites a 2016 report by the National Academies of Sciences, which had only 20 authors, only one of whom was cited as a specialist in food safety.
