Guangzhou reveals details on cadmium tainting as public pressure mounts
Origin, brands of rice in Guangzhou tainted by the heavy metal are not revealed
Guangzhou's food-safety authorities have revealed some details about the sale of rice and rice noodles contaminated with cadmium, a heavy metal, in the face of enormous public pressure.
And having initially withheld information about the brands involved and where the items were produced, yesterday they released that information.
Six batches of rice were from Hunan province and two batches of rice noodles from two processing plants in Dongguan, Guangdong.
On Friday, the authorities also provided information about the restaurants and school cafeterias where problematic rice products were found.
These included the Guangzhou Taiyang Seafood Restaurant in Liwan district, the Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, the Yannanfei Restaurant in Haizhu district and the Zhongkai University of Agriculture and Engineering.
Food inspectors took a total of eight samples. They found all contained excessive levels of cadmium, a heavy metal that can cause kidney failure, bone disease and other ailments if ingested or absorbed through the skin.