Consumer Reports Warns of Arsenic in Rice and Juice

Bonnie and Steve: This is not anything new. We addressed this issue several months ago and in late 2011. In general, you should be eating less rice and more fruits, vegetables, wild rice and quinoa. We cannot tell you how many people begin reacting to rice when they overload with it. The reactions are almost always due to rice's components and not excess arsenic. That said, rice has always been a crop higher in arsenic because it grows submerged in water, which not only leeches arsenic from the soil and agricultural runoff, but the water itself often contains high levels of arsenic. There are safer areas where rice is grown (California) than others (the South and China). If you are concerned, contact the brands you use to see where they get their rice from.

Too much consumption of any grain is not recommended, rice included. Eating grain in moderate amounts, per what is suggested in our Circle of Health Food Chart, is not going to overload you with arsenic. However, if you are worried that you or a family member has retained too much arsenic and heavy metals, you can get tested through hair, blood, or urine samples.

P.S. For anyone that is worried about arsenic in the Nature's One Baby's Only Formula, there was no detectable amounts. Here is the press release.

From February 2012:

Bonnie and Steve: An Environmental Health Perspectives study released ahead of print today found high levels of arsenic in brown rice syrup products, including two organic infant formulas. Similar to a study about arsenic found in apple juice, this definitely has the public uneasy.

The study did not released the brand names of the cereals, energy bars, athletic food products, and infant formulas. For our clients: the baby formula we recommend, Baby's Only, states their products do not have detectable arsenic levels.

Hopefully, we can learn more about the brands in question. If you are worried about any products you consume with brown rice syrup, contact the manufacturer and ask them if their brown rice syrup comes form California. If it does, then it should be fine. This was one study was on brown rice syrup, not brown rice. That is a major distinction. Feel free to avoid any products you may consume with brown rice syrup until this is sorted out.

If you are concerned for yourself or your child, you can do a simple serum or hair analysis test to screen for arsenic.

From February 2012
You Tube Segment on Arsenic in Rice/Baby's Only Formula Issue

From December 2011:
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 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.

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!