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The following appeared in a business magazine.
'As a result of numerous consumer complaints of dizziness and nausea, Promofoods requested that eight million cans of tuna be returned for testing last year. Promofoods concluded that the cans did not, after all, contain chemicals that posed a health risk. This conclusion is based on the fact that the chemists from Promofoods tested samples of the recalled cans and found that, of the eight chemicals most commonly blamed for causing symptoms of dizziness and nausea, five were not found in any of the tested cans. The chemists did find that the three remaining suspected chemicals are naturally found in all other kinds of canned foods.'
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In this argument, the arguer concludes that Promofoods products did not contain chemicals that posed a health risk. The argument seems logical at first glance. However, the test cited to support this conclusion is problematic for several reasons.
To begin with, whether the test is effective and reliable is open to doubt. How did the test be conducted? Are there any people who have specialized knowledge about medical test? Was the test adapt to the national standard? If the test was conducted by those who do not have relevant knowledge or who are not clear with the standard, the result of the test is hard to make people believe. Besides, were all the recalled cans selected randomly? How many of the eight million cans have been tested? If there were merely a small percentage of the whole cans are tested, we cannot make sure whether other ones have problems or not. Therefore, without considering all these factors relevant to a test, it is too arbitrary for the arguer to make the assumption.
Second, even the test is conducted as a normal correct procedure, the result of the test is still open to worry. As the arguer mentions, of the eight chemicals most commonly blamed for causing symptoms of dizziness and nausea, five were not found in any of the test cans, however, it is entirely possible that there are many other bacterium which might not be the most common chemical while can still be able to cause the dizziness and nausea. No information has been provided about other substances contained in tested cans. We are not sure whether this substance measure up or not. Thus, from a medical angle, we cannot ignore any possibility that would endanger people's health.
Finally, we cannot infer that the three remaining suspected chemicals do not have a negative affect on human's health simply because they naturally exist in all other kinds of canned foods. The phenomenon of existence does not necessarily indicates rationality. It could happen that these chemicals have a chronic dangerous affect on human. At the beginning it might not behave apparent while it may cause severe diseases after people keep taking for a long period of time. Without exact test or convincing evidence to show that they are salubrious enough, it is too absurd for the arguer to claims so.
In conclusion, the argument is not as persuasive as it stands. To strengthen this argument, the arguer would have to ensure the reliability of the test and provide more details about the causation of dizziness and nausea. Besides, the arguer also have to convince us that whether the three suspected chemicals are harmful or not. |
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