Information seeking about genetically modified foods: readability of online information

Abstract

Despite the widespread prevalence of genetically modified foods (GMFs) in the United States, majority of Americans are not equipped with adequate knowledge to help them make appropriate choices with regards to GMFs. Since the internet is the public’s principle source of information regarding GMFs, it is critical that the online information be presented in an easy to understand manner. This study aimed to evaluate the readability of 100 online articles pertaining to GMFs, as well as evaluate the effect of the nature of online information source on the readability of the articles. One hundred websites accessed by using the search term “genetically modified foods” on a cleared internet browser were subjected to 5 readability tests. Independent t-test was done to evaluate if readability scores were statistically influenced by the source information. More than three-fourths of the study sample yielded readability scores that were 4 − 5 grade levels above what is recommended. Almost a third of the websites (n = 37) were commercially sourced and yielded scores that deemed them more difficult to read than the other sources (.edu,.org,.govextensions), although not statistically significant, as analyzed by independent t-tests (α = 0.05). Online information pertaining to GMFs is presented at a difficult reading level, highlighting the need to develop digital information that is comprehensible to a wider audience, equipping them to make well-informed choices related to GMFs.