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A mushrooming problem

(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-12-09 08:01

A Beijing student recently found that most mushrooms sold in the market contain bleach, a fact that was denied immediately by relevant government departments. The officials should not jump to conclusions without providing enough evidence to the contrary, says an article in Beijing Youth Daily. Excerpts:

A Beijing student, Zhang Hao, found most mushrooms sold in the market contain bleach after carrying out tests, but the local administrative department declared his experiment "unscientific". The China Edible Fungi Association, too, said that Zhang's tests could not be "trusted".

But a recent poll shows that most people trust the student, not the officials. This is not strange. Everything that the Zhang has done is transparent, and people can access his tests results.

The officials, on the other hand, never tell the people how they reach conclusions. No one can force the public to accept a claim without enough supporting evidence.

Even before Zhang's discovery, people had doubts that most of the mushrooms sold in the market were contaminated with bleach. Some reports confirmed their doubts. But officials have been in the habit of turning a deaf ear to people's problems. They rarely bother to conduct their own investigation to see whether the complaints and allegations are true.

When a student takes up the responsibility of doing what the officials should have done, he deserves support and praise, not criticism.

Food safety is a serious issue and, hence, the government departments should jump into action to allay people's fears instead of simply denying them.