Scientists debunked Sunday many rumors about health that have spread in China this year, including that Americans do not eat GM foods and that carbonated water prevents cancer, the Beijing Youth Daily reported Tuesday.
The top 10 science rumor list that was released by the China Association for Science and Technology(CAST) also rejected claims that milk should never be drunk on an empty stomach and that instant noodles cannot be digested for 24 hours.
A long-list of rumors was voted on by 6 million people online, before experts compiled the final ranking. The final list - which is mostly made up of claims related to food and health - was released at a CAST event in Beijing to disseminate knowledge about science.
Other rumors on the list included that Chinese crops including potatoes, tomatoes and peppers are GM, and that the only healthy diet is one composed solely of vegetables.
Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province has passed regulations which will take effect on May 1 that will ban all GM crops including corn ,rice and soybeans and prohibit the production and sale of GM crops and the supply of their seeds.
The regulations followed a survey in October in which 91.5 percent of the respondents in the province objected to GM crops, Xinhua reported.
Though regulations on the cultivation of GM crops are tightening, China is still open to research in the sector. In November 2016, the Ministry of Agriculture announced the first list of locations that are allowed to conduct experiments with GM crops. The list included the city of Sanya, as well as Lingshui and Ledong counties in South China's Hainan Province.
Over a hundred Nobel Prize winners urged the environmental NGO Greenpeace to drop its opposition to GM technology in a June 2016 joint letter.
