Organic rice baby cereal, rice breakfast cereals, brown rice, white rice—new tests by Consumer Reports have found that those and other types of rice products on grocery shelves contain arsenic, many at worrisome levels.

Arsenic not only is a potent human carcinogen but also can set up children for other health problems in later life.  

10x Arsenic in Rice than in Other Cereals

Rice is known to accumulate around ten times as much arsenic as other cereals. In rice grains arsenic is concentrated in the outer bran layer surrounding the endosperm. This means that brown rice, (unmilled or unpolished rice that retains its bran) contains more arsenic than white rice. This milling process removes arsenic from white rice but also removes 75-90% of its nutrients. 

Arsenic is Carcinogen

Arsenic, which is classified as a Group 1 carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, is water-soluble – so it accumulates in rice, which is grown in flooded fields more than other cereals. Arsenic exposure affects almost every organ in the body and can cause skin lesions, cancer, diabetes, and lung diseases. 

How to Remove Arsenic and Keep Nutrients?

• University of Sheffield study shows cooking rice in a certain way (i.e. PBA; see Figure 1) removes more than half of the naturally occurring arsenic compared to rinsing alone

• Study shows no loss of micronutrients for both brown and white rice during the recommended ‘home-friendly’ process

References

1. Arsenic in your food

2. Scientists Find New Way of Cooking Rice That Removes Arsenic and Retains Nutrients

3. "Improved rice cooking approach to maximise arsenic removal while preserving nutrient elements” by Manoj Menon, Wanrong Dong, Xumin Chen, Joseph Hufton andEdward J. Rhodes, 29 October 2020, Science of The Total Environment.  DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.143341