When mice became men
A study in newspaper misreporting

This is an amazing story of how rodents have become men, how a Hong Kong doctor has become a Singapore newspaper and how speculation has been turned into gospel truth.

Such things do happen. But only in the world of newspapers. I marveled as I recently witnessed the birth and evolution of wrong and misleading information through a series of newspaper (mis)reports - which the majority of readers would unquestioningly accept as “facts”.

I stumbled on this while doing research for my articles on the sweetener stevia. Briefly, this was what happened.

On March 18, 2002, The Straits Times reported that the Singapore Ministry of Environment had withdrawn six Japanese food products containing the sweetener stevia, because stevia was not approved for use in Singapore as a food additive.

On March 21, Hong Kong's South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported that Hong Kong took similar action and seized 1,300 boxes of such foods. Macau made similar seizures.

The SCMP quoted Dr Tsang Man-wo, on behalf of the Hong Kong Medical Association, saying: "There is evidence among animals to suggest that it can damage the reproductive system, if used in huge doses for a long time. Because it can induce changes in the genes, there is speculation (emphasis mine) that it can then cause cancer."

This was the birth of a new idea - that stevia could cause cancer.

Previously, a literature search on “stevia” did not yield any references to cancer. I had done a search on www.nexis.com which archives reports from “major world newspapers”. It is quite a comprehensive search. I did not find any reports that mentioned cancer.

After March 21, however, all subsequent newspaper reports from the SCMP - as well as Thailand’s The Nation and news wire services coming out of China - began describing stevia as a “carcinogen” or “cancer-causing substance” or said that stevia is “suspected to cause cancer”.

Overnight, the doctor’s speculation has been turned into gospel truth. It gets repeated in press reports as if it is a fact.

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Hong Kong doctor became Singapore newspaper

The saga continues... On March 26, the SCMP carried another report saying:

"The controversy over the sweetener followed a report by Singapore's
Straits Times last Monday, which cited US research as saying it could
reduce fertility in men and cause cancer."

Even though The Straits Times is published by a rival company (I work with TODAY newspaper), I like to defend them. There was no such statement in The Straits Times.

By turning a Hong Kong doctor into “Singapore’s Straits Times”, the SCMP has unfairly blamed the ST for its own misleading description of stevia.

(Incidentally, the SCMP had other misleading descriptions as well. Stevia or stevioside is an extract from stevia leaves. It is a natural substance. Yet several SCMP reports call it “an artificial sweetener”.)

I like to defend the US as well. The official stand of the US Foods and Drugs Administration (FDA) is that stevia is “not generally recognised as safe”. The FDA did not even say that stevia is harmful.

While the FDA has banned the use of stevia as a food additive, it actually approved its use as a dietary supplement. Would the FDA be so stupid and irresponsible to approve a “cancer-causing substance” as a dietary supplement?

Meanwhile, did you notice that the latest SCMP report said stevia “could reduce fertility in men”?

The original report was about a scientific study on rodents. The Hong Kong doctor said “animals”. Now, the SCMP said “men”!

It’s amazing how rodents can evolve into men in less than a week. Strange, but true. It happens only in newspapers.