The government should put cadmium-polluted rice where their mouths are

A government official from Guangdong province said that cadmium-polluted rice is not harmful and that people can eat it. If this is so, then the official should eat the rice first, advises a column in Beijing News (excerpts below).

It is common sense that ingesting heavy metal can be harmful to your health. However, Chen Shaomeng, deputy director of the agriculture bureau in Shaoguan, Guangdong province, says otherwise: Cadmium-polluted rice is not harmful to the human body if only eaten for one or two years.

This is against the basic principles of science. How could somebody so ignorant hold the leading position in the agriculture bureau? Local officials need to think before they make senseless decisions.

Moreover, the official is indifferent to the health of the people under his rule. He does not seem to care if people get cancer from cadmium-polluted rice. If he believes what he said, then he should eat the "harmless" cadmium-polluted rice for one or two years.

Officials should be responsible and deal with cadmium pollution, instead of passing the bill. The people are not fools, so please stop fooling them.