Sep 23 2012
Is Brown Rice the New Food to Avoid?
If you followed the news this past week, you may have seen the headlines regarding concerns over the arsenic levels in brown rice. A new study by Consumer Reports indicates that many brands of organic brown rice, certain rice cereals and baby rice cereals contain levels of arsenic that are troubling. The report states that both inorganic and organic arsenic were found in a wide variety of rice products.
This comes at a time when many health conscious consumers have switched from white rice to brown rice, because it is a whole grain. It turns out that the brown rice actually has a higher level of arsenic than the white rice because the outer shell is still intact. Brands of rice grown in Louisiana, Texas, and Missouri appear to have the highest levels of arsenic. These are regions where cotton was grown a century ago and are now rice fields. Cotton fields were treated with arsenic pesticide to control the bowl weevil, and now a century later, the higher levels or inorganic arsenic is still in the soil.
Arsenic is a known carcinogen, and is especially harmful to brain development in babies. The FDA has released this statement on arsenic: “Based on the currently available data and scientific literature the FDA does not have an adequate scientific basis to recommend changes by consumers regarding their consumption of rice and rice products”
So until the FDA does more study on this, using a certain measure of caution might be in order. Consumer Reports recommends that people consider limiting their families’ exposure to arsenic by reducing the frequency of times rice and rice products are served (one to two times weekly). Overall, they do not suggest that we “cut out” all rice from our diets, but instead reduced consumption until more is known. Consumer Reports reduction guidelines are more stringent for children than adults.
As for myself and my family, we will continue to have brown rice in the one time a week frequency that is usual for us. With all of the other whole grain products out there to choose from there are plenty of other options to choose from to fill in the gap.
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