Biofortification of tomatoes in Italy: Status and level of knowledge

Vera Teresa Foti, Alessandro Scuderi, Claudio Bellia and Giuseppe Timpanaro
Additional contact information
Alessandro Scuderi: Department of Agricultural Food and Environment (Di3A), University of Catania, Catania, Italy
Claudio Bellia: Department of Agricultural Food and Environment (Di3A), University of Catania, Catania, Italy

Agricultural Economics, 2021, vol. 67, issue 6, 227-235

Abstract: Biofortification is a strategy to reduce micronutrient deficiency in humans by fortifying food through natural processes, agronomic practices and genetic modification. In this study, we seek to shed light on what consumers understand by the term 'biofortified products' and thus to understand their level of knowledge about these products, as well as the reasons that dictate their purchasing choices and the relationship between consumption choices and lifestyles. The analysis focuses on vegetables and, in particular, on tomatoes with a high lycopene content. Research shows that consumers of biofortified food products are generally confused and uninformed, even though they show a high willingness to pay. This confusion seems to result, moreover, from the lack of a clear definition of a biofortified product, as well as from the lack of clear information on the specifics of biofortified products and the benefits they can bring. The future of biofortified products can, therefore, be improved by the creation of clear standards and reference definitions and better information and transparency that would benefit the consumer.

Keywords: biofortified; consumer; food products; GMOs (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://agricecon.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/334/2020-AGRICECON.html (text/html)
http://agricecon.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/334/2020-AGRICECON.pdf (application/pdf)
free of charge

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:caa:jnlage:v:67:y:2021:i:6:id:334-2020-agricecon

DOI: 10.17221/334/2020-AGRICECON

Access Statistics for this article

Agricultural Economics is currently edited by Ing. Zdeňka Náglová, Ph.D.

More articles in Agricultural Economics from Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Ivo Andrle ().