Opinion | Fears of tainted rice turn delta shoppers to Hong Kong

Two weeks after learning nearly half the rice they buy from local markets may contain excessive levels of cadmium, a carcinogenic heavy metal, residents of the Pearl River Delta are starting to look for a solution or at least a way to avoid eating tainted rice.

Safe choices seem limited to changing a centuries-old habit of regarding rice as a staple food or buying rice in Hong Kong.

In February, the Guangzhou-based Nanfang Daily reported that more than 10,000 tonnes of cadmium-tainted rice from suppliers in Hunan were believed to have entered the Guangdong market since 2009. Delta authorities immediately denied the report, saying the tainted rice had been recalled by the Hunan suppliers and had never been sold in Guangdong.

On May 16, Guangzhou's Food and Drug Administration disclosed that it had checked 18 batches of rice between January and March and found cadmium levels in eight batches exceeded the national safety standard.

A week later, more tainted rice and rice products were found in Foshan . And excessive levels of cadmium have also been found in rice from neighbouring Guangxi and Jiangxi and from several major rice-growing regions across Guangdong.

Cadmium, an element used in battery production, can cause digestive system failure and other health problems.

Only a fool would eat tainted rice. However, delta residents face the problem of what to eat instead of the rice grown in polluted regions.