Consumer knowledge about GMOs is generally low, according to studies based on direct consumer surveys. A survey conducted by the Food Policy Institute at Rutgers University found that U.S. consumers as a whole were fairly poorly informed about GMOs, with only 48 percent knowing that GMOs were available in supermarkets and only 31 % believing that they have most likely consumed a genetically modified product. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original Essay The majority of participants also rated their knowledge as poor; 48% say they know very little about GMOs, while 16% say they know nothing at all, compared to 30% who know a fair amount and only 5% who know a lot about GMOs. But familiarity with genetic modification appears to vary between countries. A cross-cultural survey comparing consumer knowledge in the United States, Japan and Italy showed that American consumers were more likely to be at least somewhat familiar with GMOs (40.9% reported being somewhat or very familiar) than Italians (only 28.0% said they were somewhat or very familiar with GMOs). %) and Japanese (33.3%) (Wunderlich & Gatto, 2015). Although information about GMOs does not always come directly from scientific sources, the public tends to trust these sources over other sources. More recent surveys have found similar results, with consumers trusting academic scientists the most, followed by farmers, environmental organizations, government agencies, grocery stores, and food manufacturers (in descending order). We can conclude that although genetically modified products have been present in the food industry for decades and continue to grow, consumer knowledge and awareness are not improving accordingly. A careful assessment of gaps in consumer knowledge about GMOs should be established, which could lead to the development of guidelines and policies aimed at improving consumer understanding and knowledge. Future studies should critically examine methods of publishing scientific information to consumers using popular information channels to help increase the volume and quality of GMO-related information available to the average consumer. Furthermore, the education of those responsible for disseminating scientific knowledge through these public media is of crucial importance in order to avoid risk communication, because their explanations of biotechnology directly inform the public. Overall, these sources should be honest, accurate, present both pros and cons, and should only attempt to inform the public and not convince them of GMOs. Genetically modified crops have many potential benefits in terms of increasing agricultural productivity and reducing the need for pesticides, because the GMO seeds have been modified to be more resistant to insects and another pest. Even though the seeds are more expensive, these genetically modified crops reduce production costs by reducing the inputs of machinery, fuel and chemical pesticides, while at the same time, through more effective pest control, crop yields are often higher (Qaim, 2010). Additionally, the nutritional content of crops can also be modified, providing..