Arsenic in our food. Cause for alarm?

Two recent media stories exposed potentially high levels of arsenic in two major American foodstuffs: rice and apple juice. Should their be cause for concern?

Rice
There is virtually no data or oversight on naturally-occurring arsenic, or any heavy metal in rice for that matter. We applaud scientists for wanting to exploring the issue. It is a complex one that depends on many factors before a consensus can be drawn. For instance, the location of the rice field has a lot to do with the amount of heavy metals in the soil. Are the fields sprayed with pesticides or near farms that do? Do the farmers use well water, usually higher in arsenic, or receive runoff from rivers or tributaries high in heavy metals? Additionally, soil in different areas of the world have varying amounts of arsenic. For instance, California soil has less arsenic in its soil than Texas.

In our opinion, there is no cause for alarm at the moment. The new study scientists' cite to is small and has many confounding variables. If you are worried, purchase organic rice. This way, you can check off pesticides as one less potential contributor to high heavy metals. If you are gluten intolerant or celiac and consume copious amounts of rice, do not deviate for what works. If you are worried, you can always do a hair analysis or serum blood test to rule out high arsenic or other heavy metals.

http://yourlife.usatoday.com/fitness-food/safety/story/2011-12-05/Researchers-call-for-monitoring-of-arsenic-levels-in-rice/51657062/1

Apple Juice
In the case of apple juice, there is more data to draw from and depending on the brand of apple juice, there may be cause for concern. Additionally, because apple juice is a processed food, it is much easier to perform arsenic testing before releasing the product to the public. The fact that the FDA is considering more oversight means that it is an issue. We would also suggest going organic in this case if you drink apple juice. However, we are not big advocates of juice in any form because of its high glycemic index and load. We always prefer consuming the real thing!

http://www.usatoday.com/USCP/PNI/NEWS/2011-12-02-PNI1202wir-Apple-Juice_ST_U.htm