The health experts suggest that residents of Mantia will suffer fewer headaches due

to the commercial use of salicylates as flavor additives. However, several evidences

are wanted to support this claim.
The author cited a recent study to assume that since salicylates are members of
same chemical family as aspirin, it certainly has the same therapeutic effect.
However, it is common sense that chemicals in the same family could possess totally
different nature. Without the direct evidence suggesting the causation between
eating salicylates and the alleviation of headaches, salicylates’ therapeutic effect
can’t be inferred from the chemicals in same family. Secondly, the twenty-year study
found a correlation between the rise in commercial use of salicylates and the decline
of average number of headaches in Mantia. However, we don’t have any information
about where this study comes from and how it is conducted. Maybe the company
selling salicylates colluded with the laboratory to fake the study results in order to
promote the product. Unless we know that this study comes from a laboratory with
credentials and prestige in academia, we can’t put unbounded trust on the alleging
effect of salicylates. Furthermore, we also have to ask, are there any other factors
operative? It is possible that the medical progress and the healthcare system
improved significantly in twenty-year, thus the headache can be diagnosed much
earlier and also receive better treatment. Here we need more detailed evidence
analyzing other possible factors that can also reduce headaches, if we can’t exclude
other factors, the therapeutic effect of salicylates is undeterminable. The article
concludes that since there will be an increasing usage of salicylates in the foods
production, residents of Mantia can suffer from fewer headache. Given that
salicylates actually have the claiming therapeutic effects, this assumption is still
problematic in that it fails to consider different factors that contributes to headaches.
For example, many headaches are caused by pressure, over-working, or even is a
family disease. These types of headaches can’t be cure by salicylates, no matter how
much salicylates they consumed. Thus, we need a thorough investigation tabulating
the reasons of the headaches in Mantia, that way we can further evaluate whether
numbers of headaches can actually be reduced by salicylates.
To conclude, the author of the article must present more evidence like the above
mentioned to strengthen the claim.