Officials tainted by rice comment

It's shocking to hear officials from Shaoguan, Guangdong province, claim that cadmium-tainted rice poses no threat to human health at a time when people have been keeping away from such rice for the past two years, says an article in Beijing Times. Excerpts:

The Shaoguan officials' claim is an insult to the people and has hurt their emotions. Perhaps the political achievement-oriented performance criteria prompted the officials to make such a claim. But in doing so, they ignored people's health safety.