Top 10 rumors about agricultural product quality and safety in 2020

For a long time, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has relied on the two major methods of public opinion monitoring and risk communication to detect rumors with "clear ears and eyes", deal with risks "swiftly and vigorously", and popularize science for "long-term stability"

Based on the degree of harm and dissemination of the above rumors, after expert judgment and academician comments, the Agricultural Product Quality Standards Research Center of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and the scientific rumor rejection platform jointly released the "Top Ten Rumors on Agricultural Product Quality and Safety in 2020"

The South China Seafood Market Supplier's Confession?

Summary of rumors: In February 2020, a confession titled "South China Seafood Market Supplier's Confession!" Great shady exposure! "The epidemic-related article suddenly became popular on the Internet, and the article used the tone of the so-called market operator in the South China Seafood Market to reveal that there are a large number of aquatic product quality and safety problems in the market

Spread the heat: ★★★★★

Interpretation of the truth: According to statistics, this shoddy rumor post has gained tens of millions of readings.

Big cherries rely on bulking agents?

Rumor summary: In June 2020, a video about big cherries was circulated on the Internet.

Spread the heat: ★★★★☆

Interpretation of the truth: the size of the cherry fruit is related to the variety

98% of cucumbers are treated with medicine?

Summary of rumors: In mid-2020, online rumors that 98% of cucumbers are treated with medicine, and if cucumbers have protruding points, they are treated with medicines.

Spread the heat: ★★★★☆

Interpretation of the truth: It is indeed possible to use plant growth regulators such as 2,4-D and forchlorfenuron with the protrusion of cucumber tips, but the role and risks of plant growth regulators should be correctly understood

The fast-growing chicken that made Academician Zhong Nanshan cry?

Rumor summary: At the beginning of 2020, a large number of videos about "fast-growing chicken" appeared on Weibo, WeChat and many short video platforms

Spread the heat: ★★★★☆

Interpretation of the truth: The video used for the spread of the rumors is the content of the CCTV news live broadcast on December 18, 2012.

Is the watermelon that Guadi rises to ripen?

Summary of the rumors: In 2020, the Internet has repeatedly circulated the saying that "commercial watermelons are ripening" and "the watermelons that are growing out of medicinal watermelons are medicines"

Spread the heat: ★★★★

Interpretation of the truth: At present, most of the watermelons on the market are mature naturally, and the cultivation and regulation of facilities and regions can realize the natural maturity of watermelons on the market at the anniversary; naturally mature watermelons are sweet, ripening watermelon sour, and there is no need for ripening

Are we eating "fake rice"?

Summary of rumors: In February 2020, a video about the production process of "plastic rice, we eat "fake rice"" went viral on social platforms

Spread the heat: ★★★★

Interpretation of the truth: "Plastic rice" is an "old rumor" in recent years, which has been refuted many times

Tomatoes with red skin and green flesh are caused by spraying drugs?

Summary of rumors: In June 2020, Internet rumors that the separation of tomato sacs and meat is to fight drugs, and the color is red but hard is to fight drugs

Spread the heat: ★★★☆

Interpretation of the truth: "Separation of sac and flesh" and "red skin and green flesh" reflect the ripeness of tomatoes, not a food safety issue

Hubei agricultural products infected with "new crown virus"?

Rumor summary: During the new crown epidemic in 2020, there are many doubts about the safety of Hubei's agricultural products.
There are even rumors that "Hubei rice can't be eaten".
Tea and citrus have also been recruited
.
In early March, China Economic Weekly reported that there were a large number of unsalable agricultural products in Hubei, and some consumers were afraid to buy agricultural products from Hubei that might carry the virus
.

Spread the heat: ★★★☆

Interpretation of the truth: New crown pneumonia is not a food-borne disease.
Neither Hubei agricultural products nor other foods themselves are carriers or sources of infection of the new crown pneumonia virus
.
Like most viruses, the new coronavirus also needs a host to replicate and reproduce itself
.
Agricultural products themselves cannot become the main host of the new coronavirus
.
In addition, it is currently proved that the new coronavirus mainly infects humans and other mammals.
It is a warm-blooded animal, and the chance of infection with warming animals such as freshwater fish is very small
.

Is the fruit cyclamate?

Rumor summary: In June 2020, a video claiming that "fruit is sweet because of cyclamate" and "seedless grapes are dipped in contraceptive pills" spread rapidly on the Internet
.

Spread the heat: ★★★

Interpretation of the truth: After analysis, the above video is a splicing of two rumor videos of "Citrus Beating Sodium Cyclamate" and "Contraceptive Pill Grapes" around 2016
.
The rumors spliced ​​the two videos back and forth, blurred the time and location information, and inserted inflammatory language at the end of the video, forming a vicious spread
.
In fact, it is basically impossible to "do cyclamate" on the fruit during the planting process, because cyclamate is water-soluble and almost insoluble in organic solvents, which makes it difficult to penetrate the waxy layer of the fruit skin
.
Nowadays, many fruits are indeed sweeter than in the past.
This is the result of selection by generations of agricultural scientists.
It does not mean that sweet fruits are added with sweeteners
.
In addition, due to the lack of corresponding receptors and signal pathways in plants, contraceptives, which are animal hormones, cannot be recognized and acted on by plants, and therefore cannot give plants "contraception" at all
.

The dark green spinach is all due to excessive fertilization?

Rumors Overview: In 2020, Internet users post, said "The recent purchase of green spinach was black, not eating, is not much fertilizer is applied"
.

Spread the heat: ★★☆

Interpretation of the truth: For leafy greens, the green and black leaves are the state of high nutritional value
.
The darker the green leaf, the more chlorophyll, the more nutrients synthesized, and the higher the nutritional value
.
Spinach is a vegetable that can be grown all year round.
It has strong cold tolerance, including spring spinach, summer spinach, autumn spinach and winter spinach
.
Winter spinach is sown before the beginning of winter, dormant in winter, and harvested in spring
.
In order to improve its frost resistance, spinach must be fertilized before dormancy, but this is a necessary measure to help spinach through the winter.
The effect is to increase the chlorophyll content, the leaves are fully enlarged, and photosynthesis are strengthened so that the spinach can accumulate nutrients
.
Plants, like humans, are "strong body" to withstand severe cold
.
Greenhouse vegetables and hydroponic vegetables tend to have lighter leaves.
One of the reasons is insufficient light and insufficient chlorophyll
.

Expert Reviews:

Invite Academician Chen Junshi of the National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment and Researcher Han Hongwei to jointly comment on the top ten rumors about the quality and safety of agricultural products:

"For different purposes, most of these agricultural rumors are made out of nothing or fabricated to mislead consumers.
Some are also related to the "new crown virus".
They are very deceptive and deceptive.
While misleading consumers, they are also right.
The quality and safety of agricultural products in our country has brought great harm
.
Taking stock of these rumors will not only clarify the facts for the public, but also let the rumors have nowhere to hide!"