U.S. Rice Exports To Haiti Have High Arsenic Levels

US rice exports to Haiti, which constitute the bulk of supplies of the country's key food staple, contain unhealthy levels of arsenic and cadmium, heavy metals that can increase the risks of cancer and heart disease, according to a recent study by the University of Michigan, as reported by Harold Isaac and Sarah Morland for Reuters.

Nearly all imported rice samples exceeded the US Food and Drug Administration's recommendation for children's consumption. I Photo: USA Rice

Haiti is among the United States' top buyers of rice, alongside Mexico and Japan, and cheap imports are more affordable than local options in the Caribbean nation, the poorest state in the Western Hemisphere.

According to the study, average arsenic and cadmium concentrations were nearly twice as high in imported rice compared to Haitian-grown product, with some imported samples exceeding international limits.

Nearly all imported rice samples exceeded the US Food and Drug Administration's recommendation for children's consumption.

The study did not evaluate levels of toxins in other importing countries.

The study, which attributed the dominance of imported rice to lower import tariffs and long-term contracts signed during political turmoil in the late 1980s and 1990s, said Haiti imports nearly 90% of its rice, almost exclusively from the US.

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