Taiwan halts China rice imports over cadmium concerns

News of rice tainted with cadmium in China has raised concerns in Taiwan, prompting it to ban imports from the mainland last week. Taiwan’s Agriculture and Food Agency is still examining all bulk orders of imported rice in the border, and only those that meet the safety standards will be allowed entry to Taiwan, said a spokesperson from the food agency.

The maximum permissible limit of cadmium in rice is 0.4 ppm (parts per million) in Taiwan, said the representative who also reassured that Taiwan rice does not contain harmful lead content as had been misreported recently. “The maximum permissible limit of lead in rice is 0.2 ppm, and the continuous monitoring for heavy metals in paddy fields and rice products is executed all year around,” the food agency representative said.

In related news, Chinese food officials detected excessive cadmium (of around 0.4 ppm) in some rice samples in Guangzhou, Southern China. It was later traced to the key rice-producing Hunan province in China. The Philippines has already asked its Customs and import surveyors to screen rice imported from China for cadmium levels.