Genetically modified foods represent an entirely new product category on the market. Consumers are generally motivated to buy a new product if it is perceived as contributing better than existing products to the fulfillment of basic purchase motives by having superior levels of perceived quality on relevant quality dimensions (e.g. taste or wholesomeness). Quality dimensions can generally be regarded as expressions of benefits, whereas the risks associated with a product are usually more fuzzy and maybe even inferred from surrogate indicators. Thus, consumer attitudes and eventually acceptance of genetically modified food products are heavily contingent on the benefits and risks that consumers associate with these products. In this study, the means-end chain theory served as the theoretical frame for investigating consumers' perceptions of risks and benefits in relation with genetically modified foods in four European countries. 400 consumers were interviewed in Denmark, Germany, Italy and the UK by means of the laddering method, using yogurt and beer as tangible product examples. The respondents were presented to and interviewed about both genetically modified product variants and products offering similar benefits, but made by conventional methods. The question of cross-national differences in consumer perceptions and acceptance received special attention in the analysis of the data, as did the possible existence of trade-offs between perceived benefits and risks.