Public and industry views on the use of genetic modification in wine

Consumer attitudes to genetically-modified (GM) foods have been of considerable interest to social science researchers for the last 10 years, but there has been relatively little scholarly study of attitudes toward the use of GM technologies in the wine industry, either among potential consumers or members of the industry itself. There is a moratorium on commercial GM food crops in South Australia, but Victoria and New South Wales recently allowed the planting of GM food crops. The professional associations associated with wine industries in these states rejected lifting these bans, expressing concerns about wine tourism and export markets, and the uncertainty of the scientific evidence regarding GM.

Although there is clear opposition to the use of these technologies in the European context, other markets such as South Africa have been more welcoming, actively fostering GM-related wine research. Even though GM vines and grapes are still thought to be 5-10 years away, genetically-modified wine yeasts now are available on the North American market. Supporters argue that increased global competition, shifts in consumer demands and expectations especially regarding wine quality, and concerns about the need for more environmentally-friendly production practices are driving some in the industry to support consideration of these technologies.

This project seeks to establish information and evidence for attitudes both among members of the general public and members of the wine industry (e.g. producers and retailers) towards GM applications in the research phase but which are not yet in use within the South Australian wine industry. It will explore the factors that influence decisions regarding use of GM and consumption of future products that might contain or rely on GM technologies. The issue of GM and its potential uses in the wine industry is extremely pressing: it is anticipated that competitor markets soon will begin using these technologies. In addition, it is recognised that GM components may find their way into the Australian wine system, particularly because of the lack of labelling requirements for GM ingredients or technologies in the US context.

It is clear that consumer and industry attitudes toward the potential for use of GM technologies in the South Australian wine industry is a complex and important issue that needs to be examined as future directions for the industry are considered.

This project is led by Associate Professor Rachel Ankeny who is currently lead investigator on an ARC Discovery Project on the ethics of food choice in Australian consumers, as well as a DIISR small grant to examine women's attitudes toward genetic modification. She has been a collaborator or lead investigator on grants for a range of qualitative research projects particularly in bioethics and science and values from the NHMRC, ARC, and US National Science Foundation, and has numerous publications in empirical/qualitative bioethics. She is a member of the Commonwealth's Office of the Gene Technology Regulator's Gene Technology Ethics and Community Consultative Committee (2008-10, 2011-14) and its predecessor the Gene Technology Ethics Committee (2005-7).

She will be assisted on this project by Dr Heather Bray, who is currently an ARC Research Fellow on the ARC Discovery Project on the ethics of food choice in Australian consumers and is a researcher on the DIISR project examining women's attitudes to GM foods. Prior to moving into social research she developed and delivered public engagement programmes on the use of GM technologies in food production for the Molecular Plant Breeding CRC and has a background in agricultural science and science communication.