Sixty-three percent of Canadians would be less likely to buy a genetically engineered food item than a conventional one, according to a poll released today. The biotech industry is listening. Faced with increasingly skeptical consumers and tighter regulations worldwide, the industry is scaling back its plans, bypassing most genetically engineered crops in favor of big moneymakers like corn and soybeans. Some critics applaud the industry’s decision to hold back on new biotech foods, saying that the delay will give science a chance to better determine the environmental and health impacts of altering plant genes.
