Thai rice falls within safety standards
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Richard Bowler (Letters, July 29) takes me to task for failing to mention the alleged adulteration of Thai rice by the addition of smuggled rice from Cambodia and Myanmar, the effects of corruption within the industry, and the alleged reports of poorly st
The point of my letter was not to offer a wide-ranging treatise on the current state of the Thai rice industry, but simply to highlight errors and inconsistencies in an article published in The Nation. The article could have misled readers as to the published results of recent tests on several brands of rice. As I pointed out, there has been a rash of allegations about the quality and purity of Thai rice, including one by a prominent celebrity who was subsequently obliged to eat his words, as well as his rice. So it’s important that the debate be based on facts and not on misleading information.
One incontrovertible fact is that Thai rice, with its traces of methyl bromide, currently meets the exacting food safety standards set by the European Union and the US, which, as seals of approval go, is about as good as it gets.
Robin Grant
Bangkok
