ASSESSMENT OF THE POINT OF VIEW REGARDING GENETICALLY MODIFIED ORGANISMS OF THE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS LIVING IN ANKARA

ABSTRACT Aim: This study was undertaken to determine the outlook of the population to genetically modified foods and their products. Method: This is a cross-sectional study of 218 participants (175 women, 43 men) aged between 19 and 64 living in Ankara between September-December 2016. A questionnaire containing questions that reflect the sociodemographic characteristics and genetically modified organism outlook was applied to the participants in the study. The program Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) 17.0 was used for the data analysis. Results: In this study, 10.1% of participants indicated that they did not mind the consumption of GMO products, 95.4% stated that GMO products should be labeled. 86.2% stated that they would not buy a product with GMO label. 86.2% stated of the respondents think that GMO breaks the ecological balance, 83.9% think that the current legal regulations are not enough to protect against the GM harmful effects. 74.3% of participants stated that GMO is used mostly in agriculture, 17.9% in animal husbandry field and 7.9% in the health field. 10.3% of participants thought that the genetics of tomatoes had been changed most. Conclusion: Informing the society with the correct information about the media and educational institutions in order to increase the level of knowledge in this issue will contribute to awareness about GMO product