Consumer Reports is issuing new consumption guidelines based on its latest analysis of federal data and its own testing for arsenic levels, particularly inorganic arsenic, a carcinogen, in rice and other grains.
It has developed a point system to help adults and children reduce their exposure to arsenic without eliminating rice.
Consumer Reports also recommends that children should rarely eat hot rice cereal or rice pasta and those under age 5 shouldn’t replace milk with rice drinks due to elevated arsenic levels.
The latest analysis and updated recommendations from Consumer Reports come nearly two years after the organization released its original report on arsenic in rice in 2012.
These latest tests found that the inorganic arsenic content of rices varies greatly depending on the type and where it was grown.
Consumer Reports has identified better choices with much lower levels of inorganic arsenic, including white basmati rice from India, Pakistan, or California and U.S. sushi rice. Its tests also found lower arsenic options for other grains such as amaranth, millet, and quinoa.
“We are very pleased to learn that there are lower arsenic choices when it comes to rice and alternative grains,” said Urvashi Rangan, Ph.D., director of Consumer Safety and Sustainability at Consumer Reports. “This is great news for consumers who can now use our information to make better decisions for themselves and their families and reinforces our advice to vary your grains.”
Rangan said Consumer Reports will continue to call on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to set standards for arsenic in rice-based foods because it’s particularly concerned about the effects on children.
Consumer Reports’ findings and recommendations
Consumer Reports tested 128 samples of basmati, jasmine, and sushi rice for arsenic and combined the results with findings from its 2012 tests and data from the FDA’s analysis of arsenic in rice for a total of 697 samples.
It found that the inorganic arsenic content of rice varies greatly depending on the type of rice and where it was grown. Consumer Reports also looked at inorganic arsenic levels in 114 samples of nonrice grains and analyzed FDA data on the inorganic arsenic content of 656 processed rice-containing products.
Below are findings based on Consumer Reports’s new analysis:
- White basmati rice from California, India, and Pakistan, and sushi rice from the United States, on average, has half of the inorganic arsenic amount of most other types of rice. Brown rice has 80 percent more inorganic arsenic on average than white rice of the same type. Brown basmati rice from California, India, or Pakistan is the best choice because it has about a third less inorganic arsenic than other brown rices.
- All types of rice, except sushi and quick-cooking, with a label indicating that it’s from the U.S., Arkansas, Louisiana, or Texas had the highest levels of inorganic arsenic in Consumer Reports’ tests. White rices from California have 38 percent less inorganic arsenic than white rice from other parts of the country.
- Organic rice takes up arsenic the same way conventional does, so don’t rely on organic to have less arsenic.
- Gluten-free grains – including amaranth, quinoa, buckwheat, millet, and polenta or grits – had much lower average levels of inorganic arsenic. Bulgur, barley, and farro, which contain gluten, also have very little arsenic. Consumer Reports recommends that consumers vary the type of grains they eat.
The report, “Arsenic in Your Rice: The Latest,” is available online at ConsumerReports.org and in the January 2015 issue of Consumer Reports, available at newsstands and libraries.
