Nutrition Tip of the Week: Is Rice Dangerous? Anita Marlay - Mexico Ledger
go to original November 10, 2012

Rice is grown in water, which makes it even easier for the rice to absorb the arsenic.

Recently, rice lovers got some bad news. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Consumer Reports released studies showing worrisome levels of cancer-causing arsenic in many popular rice products. As a result, you may have read suggestions to limit how much rice you eat each week. Most sources suggested a cap of about 1 cup of cooked rice per week for kids and 1-1/2 cups for adults. The FDA currently is conducting further testing and is expected to announce their recommendations by the end of the year.

How does arsenic wind up in rice? Arsenic is one of many natural elements found in air, water and soil. All plants take up arsenic, regardless of the farming method. For example, you may recall a report about arsenic in apple juice a couple years ago.

Some arsenic in our food and water is really unavoidable. Rice is particularly susceptible to higher levels of arsenic because of the plant’s physiology — it likes arsenic and takes up more than other plants — and because rice is grown in water, which makes it even easier for the rice to absorb the arsenic.

To put things in perspective, arsenic is measured in parts per billion (ppb). One ppb is equal to a single drop in an Olympic-sized swimming pool. How much is too much? It’s estimated that you would have to consume 10 grams of arsenic throughout a lifetime to cause actual harm. A serving of rice has about one millionth of a gram. That means you would need to eat a ton of rice during your lifetime. The rice brands tested for the Consumer Reports article ranged from having 54 ppb to 455 ppb arsenic per serving. This is equal to .000054 grams to .000455 grams. So, you can see we are talking very small amounts.

For those who don’t eat rice on a daily basis, this probably isn’t a concern, and you don’t need to change your diet. However, if you depend on rice for a large portion of your diet, there are things you can do to lessen the risk of arsenic.

Rinse before cooking. Thoroughly rinsing rice before cooking can reduce the arsenic content by 25 percent to 30 percent. Rinse until the water is clear. This may take four to six changes of water.

Cook and drain your rice like pasta. Use six parts water to one part rice, cook until rice is done then drain off. This will reduce arsenic by 50 percent to 60 percent. Unfortunately, this method also reduces some of the nutrients in enriched rice.

Choose specific kinds of rice. Imported basmati and jasmine rice have the lowest levels of arsenic. Because the arsenic content in soils varies by region, rice from California contains less arsenic than rice grown in other states. Brown rice, although more nutritious, does have higher levels of arsenic. Choose brown rice grown in California or India.

Read labels. Avoid processed foods that contain brown rice syrups and limit pastas, rice cakes and other products made from brown rice.

Be careful when feeding babies. Rice cereal is often the first food for babies. Because of their smaller size, babies might be consuming more arsenic than adults. Avoid rice milk for babies and limit rice cereal to no more than 1/4 cup a day.

Anita Marlay, R.D., L.D., is a dietitian in the cardiac rehab department at Lake Regional Health System in Osage Beach, Mo.

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