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What do we know about the innate potato? A study on the media and online interest and the stakeholders involved

Author Affiliations

  • 1Agricultural and Applied Economics, University of Missouri-Columbia, 322 Mumford Hall, 65211, USA

Int. Res. J. Social Sci., Volume 6, Issue (1), Pages 12-18, January,14 (2017)

Abstract

In 2015, the commercial planting of the “Innate” potato, a Genetically Modified (GM) crop, was approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This potato, in contrast with most GM crops, was engineered with the potato’s own genes to have lower levels of sugars and to produce lower levels of acrylamide. This study investigates the international media coverage of this GM product and the online-interest during 2015. The study reveals that the media showed only a slight interest on the crop except during the short period when the decision about the Innate potato’s regulation was under discussion by the FDA authorities. The stakeholders most involved in the discussion came from the financial and economic realms. Online-searches, showed more continuous attention, though with decreasing rates. It is important to understand how media covers food-related events, especially in the light of the New Breeding and Genome Editing techniques.

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