In a recent survey of fresh mushrooms sold in Beijing markets, a local sixth grader, Zhang Hao, found 93 percent of his samples had been contaminated by a florescent brightening agent. The survey was meant to verify the truthfulness of the rumor that some people soak fresh mushrooms in a liquid brightener to present a more pleasing appearance to consumers.

His findings not only resulted in fear of mushrooms in consumers already unnerved by the repeated alerts to toxic materials in our food supplies. More importantly, it attracted immediate response from the municipal industry and commerce authorities, which share the responsibility for food safety with the quality inspection departments.

According to an official with the city's administration for industry and commerce, Zhang's findings were "not scientific in nature".

To some people, the words of a sixth grader are probably of no consequence compared to those of a ranking government official. But it is not the case this time. The student's Agriculture University of China advisor assured us the survey findings are "100-percent credible". And the use of florescent brightener is not limited to fresh mushrooms.

The official statement, in contrast, has no support from either the market or the laboratory and gave no scientific reasons disproving Zhang's findings.

We are not talking about a pure scientific thesis, but another potential threat to our collective well-being. Brightening agents are strictly prohibited in food processing. They may damage the human nerve system, compromise the body's immunity, disturb liver functions, and cause cell damage. An excessive intake of industrial brightening agents is also believed to be cancer-inducing.

The industry and commerce authorities' denial is a dereliction of duty. That the burden of proof should fall on the shoulders of a curious teenager is a sad indictment of the collective irresponsibility of those assigned and paid to protect us, the industry and commerce department included.

We applaud the appeal by the Public Policy Research Center of the China University of Political Science and Law for an official clarification. The municipal industry and commerce authorities have an obligation to clarify whether they have investigated the fresh mushrooms sold locally, and, if they have, what the findings were.

This is perfectly in line with the government information disclosure decree, and involves no "State secret".