Dive Summary:
- China is experiencing yet another food scandal in the form of "cadmium rice," or rice laced with levels of the poisonous metal cadmium that exceed national safety standards.
- Authorities in the Guangdong province last week found that over 44% of rice and rice products tested contained high levels of the metal, which is present in soil as a contaminant due to zinc mining, and Guangzhou Food and Drug Administration officials left consumers unable to protect themselves by claiming it was "not convenient to reveal" the brands affected.
- The officials finally gave in to criticism and revealed the names of eight of the 18 rice and rice products tested, some of which had cadmium levels as high as twice China's safety limit, and state-run news agency Xinhua and Communist Party mouthpiece People's Daily both noted that the country needs better environmental protection laws and implementation.
From the article:
... The findings were part of random food safety tests in the first quarter of the year and didn’t cover all the rice available on the market, the government said. Levels of up to 0.4 milligrams per kilogram of rice were found, twice China’s safety limit, according to Xinhua, the state-run news agency. ...