studies from China

[Cloud]

I am a big fan of Chinese culture, so do not get me wrong if I link this article, which I find interesting and worrying:

https://health.spectator.co.uk/fakery-massive-scale-means-just-cant-trust-studies-china/

[TomBAvoider]

Ha, ha! I too have nothing but respect for Chinese culture, and indeed have many Chinese friends. However, evidence is ultimately dispositive. Just the facts, ma'am. And the facts are, that at this point in time (and in the last few decades) mainland China has had very poor regulatory control over its science, particularly medical science and an abysmal consumer protection record. They are by no means unique in this respect - and when Trump gets his way, I'm sure consumer protection in the US will race to the bottom - but nonetheless, we have to see such results in the light of the entire regulatory context. 

 

That is the reason why I personally never buy food produced in China, and endevour to never buy supplements the ingredients of which have been sourced in China. Pollutants, unsafe practices and outright fraud are so pervasive that the risk is simply not worth any price savings. This skepticism extends to scientific results obtained from Chinese medical studies - such as the recently cited peppers study. I just don't trust it at all. Perphaps this is unfair, but until this reality changes, my attitude will remain deeply skeptical.