Mauritius-Based Rice Company Announces Official US Launch in Sprouts Farmers Market Stores

SAN DIEGO - Oct. 15, 2014 - PRLog -- Mighty Rice®, the boutique rice producer based in Mauritius, announces its official launch in the United States. Sustainably farmed, Non-GMO Project Verified and with a low Glycemic Index (GI), Mighty Rice is now available in all 191 Sprouts Farmers Market stores nationwide. Mighty Rice is one of only a few crops grown in Mauritius, an island east of Madagascar in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Unlike most rice products that grow in flooded fields, Mighty Rice is grown on dry land and relies solely on natural rainfall to water the crop.

Mighty Rice initially launched in Mauritius in 2013, after the founders developed a rice variety that had a naturally low glycemic index. With diabetes becoming a major public health problem worldwide, the Mighty Rice team wanted to launch a rice product that could be consumed by diabetics. With a low GI of 48, Mighty Rice is one of few white rice products safe for diabetics to consume.

“We didn’t have a place to grow Mighty Rice until we took a personal trip to Mauritius in 2008,” says Herman Suhirman, Marketing Manager of Mighty Rice. “We realized that the island nation of Mauritius has one of the highest incidences of diabetes in the world and found that as the sole rice growers in the country, we could control the purity of this specific rice breed. We built a mill and taught local farmers how to grow rice. Since rice has never been grown here before, the soil and groundwater are devoid of arsenic, which is so important to us. We are so proud to bring our ‘grains of goodness’ to the US and Sprouts shoppers across the US.”

High arsenic levels are common in rice products, as much of the world’s rice growing land is contaminated due to the use of chemicals containing the poison. Even products that are certified organic test high in arsenic levels due to the fertilizers that are organic-approved. Mighty Rice is the only known rice variety to date to meet US drinking water standards at <10ppb (parts per billion) and is tested multiple times a year by both Dartmouth College and Brooks Rand Labs in Seattle.

According to Consumer Reports, “Rice absorbs arsenic from soil or water much more effectively than most plants. That’s in part because it is one of the only major crops grown in water-flooded conditions, which allow arsenic to be more easily taken up by its roots and stored in the grains.” As the only rice crop ever grown in Mauritius, the soil is not contaminated, thus giving Mighty Rice an arsenic level of less than 2ppb for the white rice and 5.1 ppb for the brown rice. Mighty Rice is grown on dry soil and relies on natural rainfall to water the plant and replenish the soil.

Processed and packaged on-site in Mauritius, Mighty Rice has now launched in the US and is available for purchase in all 191 Sprouts Farmers Market stores nationwide for $3.99 per each 15oz bag. Mighty Rice is available in both white and brown varieties, taking flavor and quality from the volcanic soil, clean air and pure rainwater of Mauritius.

For more information about Mighty Rice, please visit: www.mightyrice.com

About Mighty Rice®

Mighty Rice is naturally developed breed of rice grown on the island of Mauritius, east of Madagascar in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Mighty Rice launched in Mauritius in 2013 and was made available in the US in 2014. Sustainably grown, healthily low in GI value and Non-GMO Project Certified, Mighty Rice is grown on dry land and relies on natural rainfall to water the crops.

Available at Sprouts Farmers Market stores across the US, Mighty Rice is ideal for health conscious consumers, diabetics and anyone following a gluten-free diet. Both white and brown varieties test low on the GI index and Mighty Rice is the only known rice variety to date to meet US drinking water standards at <10ppb (parts per billion), as tested by Dartmouth College and Brooks Rand Labs in Seattle.

For more information about Mighty Rice, please visit: www.mightyrice.com