Chapter 53 2. Who actually wore the emperor's new clothes?

The Yangshengtang company dares to challenge the entire purified water industry because they think they hold the biggest hole card - "science". Looking through many media at that time, we can see everywhere the "scientific basis" spread by Yangshengtang Company over and over again, which is enough to overthrow pure water: the production of pure water not only filters suspended solids, bacteria and other harmful substances, but also makes the water beneficial to the human body. Healthy trace elements such as potassium, sodium, calcium, magnesium and inorganic minerals are filtered out.At least 5% of the trace elements and minerals in the human body can only be obtained from water. Drinking pure water for a long time will have adverse effects on human health.The natural water comes from natural springs and alpine lakes with a quiet environment and no industrial pollution, and contains minerals and trace elements needed by the human body in a balanced manner.

On the evening of June 8, 2000, at the press conference held by Yangshengtang, the president of the company, Zhong Jinjin, gave a shocking long speech on pure water.Here are some excerpts from the highlights: "Yangshengtang is not a very well-known enterprise, nor is it a very large enterprise. We just said 7 words, 'stop producing pure water', we just struck a match, which caused the pure water industry' Big bang', is this the pure water industry itself a powder keg? So it exploded at one point, and we were also broken by the 'bomb'. However, we have exchanged for popular science education on drinking water knowledge for consumers across the country, We have aroused people's re-cognition of drinking water across the country.

"Our company has come out to speak. This company is like the story in "The Emperor's New Clothes". When a child says that the emperor is not wearing pants, tell the truth. People who tell the truth are often like Copernicus. , Many people who didn't understand shouted to burn him to death." The bell that launched the "Water War"... In fact, whether pure water is good for health is not the invention of President Zhong.The earliest well-documented statement is that in May 1997, a national society hosted a seminar on "Clean Water and Health".Some experts at the meeting said that in another ten years, young people who grew up drinking pure water may feel fatigued or suffer from cardiovascular and other senile diseases in advance.On August 15th of the same year, a Shanghai Youth Daily published a long report titled "Drinking Pure Water Often Is Harmful to the Health of a Generation".In addition to quoting a large number of "experts" in the article, the most shocking thing is the two convincing examples:

"Among the outpatients of a certain hospital in Shanghai, some children have unexplained weakness or baldness. According to the doctor's inquiry, these families are loyal users of pure water." "Coincidentally, in June last year, Tianjin Children's Hospital admitted 9 children with muscle tremors and eyelid tremors. Careful examination by the doctor found that the symptoms of potassium and calcium deficiency in these children were obvious. Parents reported that the children drank space water for a long time. or pure water." An interesting episode occurred after this article was published.Two reporters from a well-known media in Shanghai competed with each other, and they had to find out the behind-the-scenes news of "pure water harming children and teenagers".

They went to Tianjin Children's Hospital, first found the hospital office, and then through the hospital office's Ms. Fan found Ms. Li Guirong, who was the head of the hospital's medical administration department in June last year. Section Chief Li's answer surprised them: "Our hospital has never released this news", "nor has any department reported this incident." Section Chief Li told the two reporters that she had received countless calls to inquire about the stories of the "nine patients".The lady who has worked in medical administration for many years said very angrily: "Speak responsibly, who said it? Which department? You have to write clearly, and you can't write Tianjin Children's Hospital out of thin air!"

The two reporters asked cautiously again: In June last year, there were 9 children in a row, and all of them were due to drinking pure water. Should the hospital know about such cases? "I've never heard of it!" Li Guirong replied with certainty, "There are many causes of rickets, why do you think they are caused by drinking pure water?" "This is a fabricated story." The two reporters wrote in the in-depth follow-up report published by the newspaper at the end of September after returning: "The story of the 'nine patients' in Tianjin Children's Hospital that can be checked can be fabricated, then What about the 'a certain hospital in Shanghai' that cannot be checked? It is unbelievable to infer a conclusion of 'pure water is harmful' from fabricated examples!"

In various media and published water science literature, it is also not difficult to find many scientific arguments that Yangshengtang companies have not provided or are unwilling to provide. Shen Yeping, honorary chairman of the Chinese Nutrition Society and food consultant of the Beijing Municipal People's Government: Human nutrition, including minerals and trace elements, mainly comes from food and dietary supplements (such as calcium tablets, vitamin tablets, etc.).Water is water, and its main function is to provide water for the human body to achieve water balance.The requirements of human beings for water are first of all hygienic, pollution-free, and good taste.Human drinking water has changed from natural water to tap water to mineral water to pure water, which is the progress of human beings and the inevitable demand for the improvement of people's living standards.There is no scientific basis for saying that drinking pure water is harmful to health.

Zeng Weidong, Director of the Nutrition Department of Beijing Hospital: Drinking water is to quench thirst and promote human metabolism.People have ingested enough trace elements needed by the human body from food every day, and drinking water is to replenish the water in the body.According to statistics, drinking a glass of milk contains calcium equal to 200 cups of mineral water, and eating a piece of beef contains iron equal to 8200 cups of mineral water.Therefore, the only requirement for drinking water is pure water quality. Li Zhongqin, a Chinese water treatment technology expert and director of the South China Sea Monitoring Center of the State Oceanic Administration: Three-quarters of the human body is water, and this water is pure water.Because all parts of our country are currently facing the threat of environmental pollution, the water quality has been greatly affected, and pure water has completely eliminated polluting elements, and has no mutagenic, distorting, or carcinogenic substances, so it is safe and harmless.

A large amount of data shows that purified water first appeared in the United States in the 1960s, and was gradually accepted by consumers in developed countries and became a fashion.By the mid-1990s, in Europe, America, Japan, Southeast Asia and other countries, the penetration rate of purified water had reached more than 80%, and its sales volume exceeded 150-160 times that of ordinary mineral water. The penetration rate in the Middle East was almost 100%.Hong Kong imports 2 billion bottles of pure water of various brands every year, and two-thirds of young office workers drink pure water.

It is based on this that the State Bureau of Technical Supervision and the Ministry of Health have organized experts from various parties since 1986. After more than two years of investigation and certification, they completed the "Standards for Bottled Purified Drinking Water" and "Sanitary Standards for Bottled Purified Drinking Water" in 1998. " was formulated, approved, and officially implemented on January 1, 1999.When this "water war" was inextricably fought, the China Beverage Industry Association solemnly issued a statement based on this: Consumers can rest assured to drink pure water produced in accordance with national standards.

Let's take another look at the "natural water" of Yangshengtang. On May 24, 2000, the National Food Industry Standardization Technical Committee stated in Wahaha Company’s reply requesting an explanation of the definition of “natural water” that “natural water” has not yet been defined internationally and domestically. It should include both rainwater and groundwater.Groundwater includes mineral water, spring water and well water.The spring water is shallowly buried, easily polluted, has no obvious characteristic components, and has a lower salinity than mineral water.At present, there is no standard definition of spring water, so it is difficult to judge whether the spring water and mountain spring water sold in the market are genuine or not.Claiming that our products are "natural spring water" and "natural mountain spring water" is a voluntary behavior of the enterprise, and there is no basis for regulations and standards... It complies with GB17323-1998 "Standard for Bottled Drinking Pure Water" and GB17324-1998 "Hygienic Standard for Bottled Drinking Water" Pure water is absolutely harmless.The water in rivers and lakes is very complex, the water comes from many sources, the degree of pollution is relatively deep, and it is not natural water. This authoritative statement obviously hit the weakness of Nongfu Spring.Therefore, on June 7, Nongfu Spring sent a letter to the committee, requesting to verify the relevant facts of this document, revoke the above-mentioned document or clarify the relevant content. The conclusion of the "letter" said: "Please give us a clear reply within a week. If you do not reply within the time limit, our company will automatically enter legal procedures to protect our legal rights." The National Food Industry Standardization Technical Committee expressed unbearable and strong indignation at the challenge issued by the "farmers". On June 16, the committee’s reply questioned Nongfu Spring: Was the series of activities in the recent period guided by this mantra of questioning others?What is the meaning of "stop producing pure water" broadcast on CCTV?What products an enterprise produces is an internal matter, why bother to insinuate in public, isn't it "Xiangzhuang's sword dance, intended for Peigong"?Is this also fair competition? The end of the reply is also tit-for-tat and full of gunpowder: We are waiting for your "automatic entry into legal procedures" and will accompany you to the end.However, it should be stated that this reply is both the first and the last time.Please don't waste your time and paper. If you send me another letter, you won't be answered, and you won't even read it. Instead, throw it in the filthiest place and be with the garbage. Some media reported that one of the reasons why Yangshengtang stopped producing pure water was that it was learned that the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission had issued a document expressly stipulating that primary and middle school students were not allowed to drink pure water.Famous reporters Wan Runlong and Jiang Ping from Shanghai Wen Wei Po interviewed Wu Lin, director of the Sports, Health and Art Department of the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission, and Zhu Yueping, the virgin cadre.They made it clear to the reporter that the Municipal Education Commission has never "expressly stipulated" that primary and secondary school students are "not allowed to drink pure water", but only issued a document that "drinking pure water should not be recommended in primary and secondary schools". Director Wu said that according to his personal investigation, schools and parents welcome pure water.The reason is that it is convenient and hygienic, and second, it is suitable for children's taste.However, the school charges are not balanced. Some schools charge 3-5 yuan per month as a "drinking water fee" for supplying pure water to students, while others charge a higher fee. Some parents have objections.In addition, some pure water manufacturers send bottled water to schools and kindergartens, which is prone to secondary pollution due to factors such as transportation and storage.Taking these circumstances into consideration, the Municipal Education Commission emphasized below that drinking pure water should not be recommended in primary and secondary schools and kindergartens.As for children bringing their own pure water or primary and middle school students drinking pure water at home, the Municipal Education Commission has never prohibited it. Let us go back and look at the sensational daffodil growth comparison experiment conducted by Yangshengtang Company. The scientific nature of the comparison has been widely questioned.He Boquan, chairman of Guangdong Robust, joked: If natural water is rich in nutrients and is good for the growth of daffodils, wouldn’t it be more nutritious for us to use dung water?Are we all going to drink dung water? "In my opinion, if one selects the top ten pseudosciences in 2000, Nongfu Spring's 'Narcissus Experiment' will definitely be on the list." "China Enterprise Daily" quoted a person who used to work in the core department of Yangshengtang Company as saying that as early as August 1999, the company had already started planning the "Daffodil Experimental Project", and it was Yangshengtang who presided over the experiment The "Dr. Bai Haibo of Zhejiang University" has been repeatedly proclaimed.However, Zhejiang University immediately denied this experiment. A letter from the Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Biomedical Engineering and Instrument Science of the school stated: "Dr. After two years of scientific research at the post-doctoral research station, he went to work at Yangshengtang. During his stay at Zhejiang University, he did not carry out scientific research on the subject of 'water and life'." In fact, Bai was the deputy director of the Natural Medicine Research Institute of Yangshengtang Company at the time. . In the face of well-founded doubts and counterattacks from all sides, at the press conference of Hangzhou Xizi State Guesthouse on June 8, the president of Yangshengtang, Zhong Yujin, repeatedly stated, "We never said that pure water is harmful, I just said that there is a problem. , It’s useless, we don’t have a final conclusion yet, we’re still continuing the experiment, because the experiment takes time.” Yunyun, please ask the reporters to rehabilitate him. However, it is such a "scientific experiment" that "has not yet reached a final conclusion", but Yangshengtang company hastily pushed it to 300 million children across the country in order to realize the "good wish" of "popularizing science". This is just like the sharp question that the reporter of "Zhejiang Youth Daily" had to ask at a press conference of Yangshengtang Company: I would like to ask President Zhong Jinjin, do you position yourself as Hitler who overthrew the old commercial order of pure water, or Copernicus positioned to establish a new concept of drinking water?