Increasing acceptance of novel foods

Findings from a study by Prof Shirley Ho and PhD student Ou Mengxue from NTU’s Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information could help inform science communication strategies that address misinformation on novel foods, such as genetically modified vegetables or laboratory-grown meat.

To determine if having expert knowledge influences how people evaluate information on novel foods, the study held focus group discussions with 40 participants in Singapore – a quarter of whom were novel food experts.

The study found that lay people who do not know much about novel foods and find it difficult to understand technical jargon tend to give up assessing whether the information they read about the foods is credible to save themselves time and effort. Lay people also tend to rely on superficial aspects of the information, such as whether it comes from a legitimate-looking website.

On the other hand, some novel food experts choose not to verify the credibility of the information because they lack time and want to concentrate on their research instead. When they do try to determine the accuracy of the information, they focus on the content such as whether the details appear objective or seem too good to be true, and if the information aligns with the broader scientific understanding.

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The research was reported in “Does knowledge make a difference? Understanding how the lay public and experts assess the credibility of information on novel foods”, published in Public Understanding of Science (2024), DOI: 10.1177/09636625231191348.

The article appeared first in NTU's research & innovation magazine Pushing Frontiers (issue #24, October 2024).