Interesting facts and figures regarding rice.

• The Chinese Word for Rice is the same as their word for food

• Rice is the main food for half the people in the world.

• There are more than 40,000 different varieties of rice.

• Of the 40,000 varieties more than 100 grow world-wide, but only around 10% are marketed and sold.

• Rice is a symbol of life and fertility, which is why it was a tradition to throw it at weddings, confetti has now replaced rice.

• To see how many a children a newlywed couple will have the Finns count the number of grains of rice in the brides hair.

• Grains of rice in a salt cellar will help to keep the salt free flowing.

• Rice is cultivated in over 100 countries and on every continent except Antarctica.

• There are over 29,000 grains of rice in one pound of long grain rice.

• The average person in the UK eats approximately 4.4kg of rice each year.

• On cooking rice swells to give at least three times its original weight.

• 96% of the worlds rice is eaten in the area in which it is grown.