BEIJING - AN 11-YEAR-OLD Beijing boy has become a hero to consumers for revealing that mushrooms declared safe by officials in the Chinese capital were tainted with harmful chemicals, state media said on Monday.
Primary school student Zhang Hao began investigating mushrooms - one of his favourite foods - after his mother barred him from eating them following reports casting doubt on their safety, the China Youth Daily said.
Hoping to disprove the latest fears to tarnish China's scandal-plagued food industry - that harmful bleaching agents were used to whiten the fungi - Zhang in July began gathering a range of mushroom samples.
He then tested them with the help of a research student at China Agriculture University using a microscope and fluorescent lighting.
Zhang found the chemicals were used on the overwhelming majority of the mushrooms tested, the report said.
Chinese press reports have said the whitening agents can cause a range of potential health problems including liver damage, skin allergies and respiratory ailments such as asthma.
Source: ST Online/AFP
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