Objective To analyze the cadmium level of main food,and preliminarily assess the risk of dietary cadmium exposure of people in Guangdong province.Methods In 2009,2 200 samples of 15 food groups were collected from 21 cities of the province.Cadmium contents in food were determined by using graphite furnace atomic absorption method and then the cadmium exposure from main food was estimated by combining the concentration of cadmium in foods with food consumption data.The health risk was assessed by comparing the cadmium exposure with provisional tolerable monthly intake(PTMI) and the margins of safety(MOS) of cadmium.Results The concentration of cadmium in seaweed was 1830 μg/kg,which was the highest among the 15 food groups being tested.Rice,vegetable,fish,shrimp and animal offal contributed totally 1 314.6 and 1 394.3μg cadmium exposure per month in urban and rural residents respectively.Rice,as a most important contributor,contributed 50.1% and 64.9% to the total dietary cadmium exposure of urban and rural residents,respectively,and contributed more in the north of Guangdong Province.Conclusion The average dietary cadmium exposure from the main food did not exceed the PTMI,and the MOS is bigger than 1,so the level of dietary cadmium exposure is safe in general.However,based on the big consumption of rice in southern China and the high contribution rate of rice to dietary cadmium exposure,more attention should be paid to the possible cadmium contaminated rice to prevent the source of pollution.