UPDATE: FDA Sets Arsenic Level for Apple Juice at 10 PPB (7/12/13)
(
Source) Even apple juice has an upper limit for the concentration of arsenic allowed. Why not rice? Why doesn't the FDA make their results more clear and include brands of rice that they tested? See below for more details.
The FDA’s Study on
Arsenic in Rice
In September of 2012, the US FDA released the results of a
comprehensive study detailing the relative concentrations of arsenic in rice.
Say, WHAT?
Arsenic? In rice? Arsenic as in Arsenic and Old Lace like how the old ladies were killing people by
putting arsenic in elderberry wine?
Arsenic as in IT’S-RAT-POISON-AND-WILL-KILL-YOU-DEAD?
Yeah, arsenic. And it’s in rice. Quite a lot of it.
It seems that a lot of rice paddies are down south and are
repurposed cotton fields. Back in the olden days, they used to sprinkle arsenic
on the cotton crops to kill the cotton boll weevil because, you know, it’s not
like anybody was going to eat the cotton.
Then cotton became less profitable. Rice became more
profitable. And those arsenic-laced fields were then used to grow rice.
Now, the FDA says that they aren’t suggesting anyone change
their diet, but people should “continue to eat a balanced diet that includes a
wide variety of grains – not only for only for good nutrition but also to
minimize any potential consequences from consuming any one particular food.”
Source
Yeah, great. I heard somewhere that they’re recommending
that people eat two servings or fewer of rice per week.
Per week? Heck,
quite often I eat more than two servings of rice per day!
Fudge. And not the good kind.
To consider the problems with arsenic, the US EPA says,
“Non-cancer effects can include thickening and discoloration of the skin,
stomach pain, nausea, vomiting; diarrhea; numbness in hands and feet; partial
paralysis; and blindness. Arsenic has been linked to cancer of the bladder,
lungs, skin, kidney, nasal passages, liver, and prostate.”
The EPA continues, “EPA has set the arsenic standard for
drinking water at .010 parts per million (10 parts per billion) to protect
consumers served by public water systems from the effects of long-term, chronic
exposure to arsenic.” Parts per billion is about the same as micrograms per
liter of water (mcg/L). Since rice is more dense than water, the ppb to mcg/L
conversion ratio is different.
10 parts per billion (ppb) is really, really tiny, and
that’s what they set the upper limit at for drinking water. New Jersey set the
limit lower, at 5 ppb, and that’s New
Jersey. (Hello, all my peeps from Exit 8A!)
Generally, anything above 3 mcg is bad, and anything above
5mcg is really, really bad.
The FDA’s Data
Some of the highest concentrations were found in:
Source
Product: Specific: Origin:
Mcg of As:
Rice (non-Basmati) Wild
Rice USA 6.0
Rice (non-Basmati) Extra
Long Grain Rice USA 6.9
Rice (non-Basmati) Extra
Long Grain USA 6.8
Rice (non-Basmati) Brown
Rice Long Grain Unknown 9.7
Rice (non-Basmati) Long
Grain Brown USA 9.1
Rice (non-Basmati) Long
Grain Brown Rice Unknown 10.2
Rice (non-Basmati) Brown
Natural USA 11.1
Basmati Rice Brown USA 9.0
Basmati Rice Basmati
Brown Rice USA 9.0
Basmati Rice Organic
Long Grain Brown USA 6.6
From a cursory glance down the list, it appears that Long
Grain is bad, Brown is bad, and Long Grain Brown is really bad. US-grown Brown
Basmati is bad.
Better choices:
Product: Specific: Origin:
Mcg of As:
Basmati Rice Fully
Cooked India Undetectable/Trace
Basmati Rice Pure
Basmati Rice India Undetectable/Trace
Basmati Rice Basmati
Rice India 1.8
Basmati Rice White
Basmati USA 1.2
Basmati Rice Organic Brown Basmati USA 3.0
Basmati Rice California
White Organic USA 2.3
Basmati Rice Organic
White Basmati USA 2.3
Some specialized GF products:
Product: Specific: Origin:
Mcg of As:
Rice Cereal Rice
Squares, Crispy Toasted GF NR 1.9
Rice Cereal Cream
of Rice NR 2.6
Rice Cereal Whole
Grain Puffed Rice, whole grain brown rice NR 1.5
Rice Cereal Crispy
Rice Gluten Free Whole Grain Brown NR 2.9
Rice Cereal Crispy
Rice Gluten Free Whole Grain Brown NR 3.2
Rice Cereal Organic
Puffs NR 1.5
Rice Cereal Crispy
Rice Gluten-free Whole Grain Brown Rice NR 3.2
Rice Cereal Organic
Whole Grain Rice Cereal (infant) NR 3.2
Rice Cereal Rice
Chex Gluten-free NR 4.3
Rice Cereal Organic
Whole Grain Rice Cereal (infant) NR 2.9
Rice Cereal Honey
Rice Gluten Free NR 4.1
Rice Cereal Organic
Brown Rice Crisps NR 7.1
Rice Cereal Organic
Brown Rice Crisps NR 7.3
Rice Cereal Gluten
Free Cream of Brown Rice NR 9.7
Rice Cakes Brown
Rice Organic Salt-free NR 3.8
Rice Cakes Caramel
Corn Gluten-free NR 3.1
Rice Cakes Brown
Salt Free NR 4.8
Rice Cakes Butter
Popped Corn NR 5.6
Rice Cakes Lightly
Salted NR 4.6
Rice Cakes Salt
Free NR 6.3
Rice Cakes Salted
Plain Gluten Free NR 7.6
Rice Cakes Lightly
Salted NR 7.7
Rice Cakes Sodium
Free Plain Gluten Free NR 8.2
Rice Cakes Salt
Free NR 8.2
Rice Cakes Salt
Free NR 8.0
Rice Cakes Salt
Free NR 8.0
On the “good news” front, most of the “rice milks” tested
came in at undetectable levels, though a few spiked up into the 3 mcg range,
which still isn’t too bad.
Consumer Reports
Study
Consumer Reports did their own study with their own lab
tests. (
Consumer
Reports) Here are some highlights:
“We already know that high concentrations of
arsenic in drinking water result in the highest known toxic substance disease
risks from any environmental exposure,” says Allan Smith, M.D., Ph.D., a
professor of epidemiology at the University of California, Berkeley. “So we
should not be arguing to wait for years until we have results of epidemiologic
studies at lower arsenic intake, such as from rice consumption, to take
action.” His studies of arsenic in public water in Chile and Argentina helped
show that it causes lung and bladder cancer and other diseases.”
“In brands for which we tested both a white and a brown
rice, the average total and inorganic arsenic levels were higher in the brown
rice than in the white rice of the same brand in all cases. Among all tested
rice, the highest levels of inorganic arsenic per serving were found in some
samples of Martin Long Grain Brown rice, followed by Della Basmati Brown,
Carolina Whole Grain Brown, Jazzmen Louisiana Aromatic Brown, and Whole Foods’
365 Everyday Value Long Grain Brown. But we also found samples of brown rice
from Martin and others with inorganic arsenic levels lower than that in some
white rice.”
“In brown rice, only the hull is removed. Arsenic
concentrations found in the bran that is removed during the milling process to
produce white rice can be 10 to 20 times higher than levels found in bulk rice
grain.”
“Among the four infant cereals tested, we found varying
levels of arsenic, even in the same brand. Gerber SmartNourish Organic Brown
Rice cereal had one sample with the highest level of total arsenic in the
category at 329 ppb, and another sample had the lowest total level in this
category at 97.7 ppb. It had 0.8 to 1.3 micrograms of inorganic arsenic per
serving.”
Consumer Reports Data
In general, Consumer Reports found much higher concentrations of arsenic in rice than did the FDA. Yikes. They also divulged the brand names that they tested.
Here’s some selected data: (
Source).
Remember, anything more than 10 is bad. Note that these data are presented in ppb, while the above data are in micrograms, so they are not directly comparable.
Product: Total
Arsenic in ppb
365 Everyday Value Long Grain Brown (Whole Foods) 282
365 everyday Value Organic Indian Basmati White (Whole
Foods) 100
Archer Farms Organic Basmati (Target) 62
Canilla Extra Long Grain Enriched 431
Carolina Whole Grain Brown 307
Goya Enriched Medium Grain 297
Great Value Brown (Walmart) 360
Lundberg California White Basmati California 62
Lundberg Short Grain Brown California 204
Mahatma Extra Long Grain Enriched 284
Rice Select Organic Texmati White 917
Trader Joe's White Basmati From India 85
Arrowhead Mills Organic Sweetened Rice Flakes 963
DeBoles Rice Spirals 300
Trader Joe's Organic Brown Rice Pasta Fusilli 347
Arrowhead Mills Organic Brown Rice Flour 565
Arrowhead Mills Organic White Rice Flour 373
Some Conclusions
So, I have laid it out for y’all: we need to limit our rice
consumption. We celiacs and other gluten-free folks have a special problem in
that we also need to avoid wheat, rye, and barley, too. Gar.
Here’s what I’m doing: I’m trying to eat rice in any form no
more than once per day, and when I do, it’s white Basmati from India. I usually
get the Tilda brand from an Indian Grocery store.
As an additional headache, the FDA recently stopped all
imports of Basmati rice from India because they found some rat poop and a
couple bugs in some. (
Source.) Personally, I’ve never found any suspect “filth” in any
bag of Tilda or any other brands, and I wash my rice at least three times and then
I cook it in boiling water. That will kill anything biological that came along
for the ride, but you can’t get rid of an element that’s been intercalated into
the cells of the rice grain, such as
arsenic.
I’m also eating a lot more quinoa, corn, and potatoes. I
will post my recipe for Gluten-Free Hearty Quinoa Blender Bread soon.
Additionally, check out these blogs and blog posts, all of
which have rice-free (and GF) recipes or info.
