bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22099990
“Rice from China and Taiwan had the highest lead levels, but Dr Tongesayi stressed that all of the samples significantly exceeded the PTTIs.”
Great. I wonder if the leaded rice is exclusively for export, given that it will most likely be consumed only by foreigners, or if it is distributed domestically as well.
China exporting contaminated products? I’m completely stunned. This is absolutely shocking. The sad thing is places allow this kind of poison into their countries and into people: http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/series/toxicpipeline/index.html The one where deadly medicine killed 100 people in Panama should be an eye opener to everyone. If I remember correctly there was no real criminal investigation and no charges filled against any of the alleged suppliers, despite appeals from Panama. I think China’s government told gave a reluctant “bu hao yi si.” I seriously doubt many in China gave a rat’s ass some foreigners died form poison sent to them from China. If the 100 people that died were Chinese then someone might have gotten in trouble, if enough people protested I suppose. If the babies that got kidney failure in China from contaminated milk powder would have been babies in a foreign land, who knows, China might have felt compelled to say, “bu hao yi si”
[quote]“If you look through the scientific literature, especially on India and China, they irrigate their crops with raw sewage effluent and untreated industrial effluent,” he explained.
“Research has been done in those countries, and concerns have been raised because of those practices, but it’s still ongoing.”
Dr Tongesayi also said that the increasing practice of sending electronic waste to developing countries - and the pollution it leads to - exacerbates the problem.
[/quote]
Does any of the above apply to Taiwan?
And I guess this hasn’t made the local news here?
It was in the local news outlets today, there is some controversy over the details and it wasn’t a front-page thing.
Is there anything new on this since this article?
focustaiwan.tw/news/aall/201304120025.aspx
I used to live in China and I’d instantly dismiss any government statements that the rice was ok, but I’m new to Taiwan… how reliable is government stuff like this? Of course I could write a whole lot of stuff about questions that sprung to mind as I read this, but I’m really only concerned about whether I’m eating lead, and the government’s track record for honesty here for future reference.
[quote=“european”]
Does any of the above apply to Taiwan?
And I guess this hasn’t made the local news here?[/quote]
back in the 80s when the industrial boom was going on, there were a lot of deliberate pollution due to non-existent regulations. there were at least 2 major instances where rice paddies on the west coast were polluted with Cadmium. However, if the factories are not doing something funny, Taiwanese farmers tend to irrigate with waters from the Water Resources Agencies. If you ever go bike riding in Houli, Taichung, you could see the fresh clean waters that are being use to irrigate the farms.
According to the Council of Agriculture, all exported rice are tested, and Taiwan only exported 43 metric tons of rice to the US, so far this year only 5 metric tons, that’s not a lot of rice, and fairly easy to track where the rice came from. Taiwan’s regulates lead residue in rice to be under 2ppm. None of the 160 samples tested last year surpassed that value. Therefore COA says they are surprised by the report. They suspect the rice from Taiwan is mixed with rice from elsewhere. Finally, they said they’ll look into it.
That’s true , at the same time it’s still very easy to find rice fields right beside factories in industrial areas in Taiwan.
why would the USA import Taiwan rice, or any rice at all. We have tons of rice. And super cheap.
I know i can get imported (from the himalayan foothills so they say) indian rice and thats near double the price of US grown rice.
maybe i better stop buying the indian rice now tho.
Because there are Taiwanese people in the US, and every Asian country thinks their rice is superior. 
I know some Taiwanese that bring a bag of rice with them on holiday.
I have a new appreciation for US grown rice now
[quote=“elburro”]Because there are Taiwanese people in the US, and every Asian country thinks their rice is superior.
I know some Taiwanese that bring a bag of rice with them on holiday.[/quote]
guilty as charged, i’d do that, but I buy organic rice from special areas and special cultivars.