Lettuce is not a meal: Arsenic and Old...Rice

Back in 2012, shortly after I'd decided to return to school in dietetics, I came across a report that Consumer Reports published following an investigation into the levels of inorganic arsenic in rice and rice products.[1] After testing more than 60 products, Consumer Reports expressed concern that a single serving of several of the tested products contained nearly as much arsenic as an adult would get from consuming an entire day's worth of water containing arsenic at the highest level permitted under federal water standards.[1]

My first thought at the time was - because I'd seen a certain movie referenced in the title of this post - "isn't arsenic a poison?" In that particular movie, Cary Grant's character's elderly aunts kill older gentlemen using arsenic and have a neighbor bury the corpses in the basement. And yes, arsenic has a well-documented history of use as a poison outside of old movies.[2]

But more importantly, inorganic arsenic is a carcinogen.[3],[4],[5],[6],[7] It's listed as a substance that is "carcinogenic to humans" by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (a part of the World Health Organization), and as one of the compounds "known to be human carcinogens" by the National Toxicology Programs (part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services).[4],[5],[6]

So what is arsenic doing in our food and water? Arsenic is a chemical element that is present in the Earth's crust, so natural weathering processes can cause it to enter both soil and water.[1],[8] But the human race has also increased the arsenic in water and soil by burning various fuels (including coal, oil, gas, and wood), mining, and using arsenic in animal feed, pesticides, fertilizers, herbicides, and wood preservatives.[1],[8] Once arsenic is in our food and water, it enters our crops, and then our dinner plates.[1],[8],[9] Rice takes up more arsenic than many other plants, largely because it is grown in water-flooded conditions.[1],[9] But arsenic is also found in fruits, vegetables, juices, and beer.[1],[10]

Apparently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has been monitoring arsenic levels in foods for decades, and stepped up testing in 2011.[11] The FDA released a preliminary report on arsenic levels in rice in September 2012, and followed up in September 2013 with the release of findings of an extensive initiative that tested 1,300 rices and rice-based products.[8],[11],[12] The levels were, at times, even higher than those reported by Consumer Reports.[1],[10],[11] The FDA concluded that the arsenic levels observed were "too low to cause immediate health damage."[12]

Great. So eating rice with my Thai curry won't poison me...today. But the FDA had nothing to say about the long-term effects of rice consumption, despite acknowledging that inorganic arsenic "under some circumstances has been associated with long-term health effects."[8],[12] Assessing the long term risk of that rice to the U.S. population (including certain vulnerable segments of that population) is the FDA's next step.[9],[13]

Where does that leave those of us who are gluten free? When I first saw the Consumer Reports article, I thought "oh, we don't eat that much rice. I'm sure we're fine." Except when I'd initially thought about how much rice we ate, I'd been mentally tallying this kind of rice:

The problem is that for those of us who are gluten free, rice is also disguised as the following:

In fact, nearly every gluten free packaged product or mix in my home contains at least some rice or rice-based flour. Of the eleven products pictured, only four do not contain more rice or rice flour than anything else. When I re-tallied up all of the rice I ate, including the less-obvious sources of rice, I realized that I ate a lot of rice. And I think that most people on gluten free diets probably do too.

Until the FDA completes its assessment of the long-term effects of the arsenic in rice, it is recommending that consumers

"eat a well-balanced diet that includes a variety of grains for good nutrition

and to minimize potential adverse consequences

from consuming an excess of any one particular food."[9]

For those of us who are gluten free, the variety of grains we consume can't include wheat or barley, but there is a long list of other grains we can incorporate into our diets. (See my first post on whole grains to review that list.) We can eat quinoa, millet, or buckwheat instead of rice. Additionally, we can seek out gluten-free packaged products that use less (or no) rice. They do exist. In fact, when pulling items for the picture of disguised rice sources, I found a few Bob's Red Mill mixes stashed in my freezer that happen to contain no rice. Several manufacturers make quinoa, corn, or bean based pastas, or pastas made from a number of different grains. Udi's bread contains a variety of flours in addition to rice.

Additionally, both the FDA and Consumer Reports suggest that rinsing rice before cooking and then cooking it in excess water and draining it like pasta can reduce the amount of arsenic actually consumed.[1],[9] Unfortunately, this may also lower the nutritional value of the rice by draining off B vitamins.[9] Another possibility would be to consume more white rice than brown rice (which generally had higher arsenic levels), but that too has nutritional ramifications.[1],[14]

For more information about:

Reports and articles regarding arsenic levels in rice products, see

[1] Consumer Reports on Arsenic in Rice 2012

[10] Consumer Reports on Arsenic in Foods 2013

[11] FDA on Arsenic in Rice

[12] FDA Consumer Update on Arsenic in Rice

[13] FDA Blog on Next Steps in Arsenic and Rice

[14] FDA on Testing and Analysis of Arsenic in Rice

[9] FDA Arsenic in Rice Q&A

[8] FDA Consumer Update on Arsenic in Rice 2012

FDA Analytical Results from Arsenic in Rice Sampling

Specific recommendations regarding rice consumption in response to arsenic levels, see