This eclectic and limited product mix raises an obvious question: Is Lai firing at grocery battleships with grains of rice?

CNN: Groceries to go

We would begin praying and sprinkling these rather ordinary implements with yellow turmeric powder, red roli powder, grains of rice, holy water, and flower petals.

NPR: In The Kitchen With Madhur Jaffrey

In the short term, prices of staple grains would rise and more rice would need to be imported.

WSJ: Review & Outlook: China's Toxic Rice Bowl

Anti-GMO campaigners are clearly positioning themselves for another offensive against a new wave of GM crops and foods, with new pesticide tolerant grain varieties and a host of nutritionally enhanced grains, such as Golden Rice and drought resistant wheat, in their crosshairs.

FORBES: Exposing the Anti-GMO Legal Machine: The Real Story Behind the So-Called Monsanto Protection Act

Purists point to many giant breweries' use of "adjuncts, " a kind of "beer helper" of syrups and unmalted (meaning ungerminated) grains like rice and corn that, among other things, thins the brew's body and boosts its alcohol level on the cheap.

FORBES: Czech Mate

Although the food questionnaires used in the study did not ask about specific brands of cereals, popular brand-name cereals made from refined grains include varieties of Corn Flakes, Special K, and Rice Krispies, while examples of whole-grain cereals include Cheerios, shredded wheat, and bran.

CNN: Cereal may help ward off hypertension

Often, they must spend half or more of their income on food, the bulk coming from staple grains like corn, wheat and rice.

CNN: Extreme heat and droughts -- a recipe for world food woes

The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) said in a blog post that "even where the soil is contaminated with a lead spill, a number of studies have shown that rice plants do not take up a significant amount of lead and move it to the grains".

BBC: Study of lead levels in rice under scrutiny