POLICY BRIEF article
Front. Genome Ed.
Sec. Genome Editing in Plants
Volume 7 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fgeed.2025.1672358
This article is part of the Research TopicSocial Aspects of Crop Genome EditingView all 4 articles
Consumer choices regarding genome-edited food crops: Lessons from Japan
Provisionally accepted
- Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan
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Japan has rapidly deregulated certain types of agricultural genome editing, yet the societal integration of these products warrants further investigation. This paper analyzed the sale and people's perception of genome-edited food crops in Japan after reviewing the regulatory framework. Of four genome-edited crops approved as non-genetically modified organism, only one is sold online to consumers who credit safety information and perceive usefulness. Some consumers express deep safety concern, advocating mandatory labeling. The majority of people are not sufficiently aware of genome editing. To enhance informed consumer choices of genome-edited food crops, it is crucial to share visions in society, hold risk communication for mutual understanding, and maintain clear labels, including organic food standards.
Keywords: Genome editing, Food crop, regulation, consumer choice, Marketing, labeling, organic food
Received: 24 Jul 2025; Accepted: 27 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Ishii. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Tetsuya Ishii, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan
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