At a sideline forum about food additives during the National Food Safety Publicity Week initiated on Monday, the official in charge under the Ministry of Health said that journalists whose inaccurate or distorted reporting of food safety problems mislead the public might be blacklisted.

The current food safety publicity week is meant to raise the general public's awareness about food safety so they will be clear-headed enough to avoid eating contaminated food or being misled by distorted reporting.

True, inaccurate or even distorted reporting of a particular event related to food safety may cause public panic or cause economic losses to the producer of a particular food or food-related products. Yet, the question remains whether it is necessary or legitimate to blacklist journalists.