If you knew there was arsenic in your food, would you eat it? More importantly, would you serve it to your children?
Recently, Consumer Reports Magazine released their analysis of arsenic levels in rice products, and the results were concerning. Popular rice products including white rice, brown rice, organic rice baby cereal, and rice breakfast cereals, were all found to contain arsenic, a potent carcinogen that can also be harmful to a child’s developing brain.
In virtually every product tested, we found measurable amounts of total arsenic in its two forms. We found significant levels of inorganic arsenic, which is a carcinogen, in almost every product category, along with organic arsenic, which is less toxic but still of concern.
The study not only found a significant amount of arsenic in many rice products on the market, but also that arsenic levels in the blood directly increase with greater rice consumption.(1) Several products tested had more arsenic in each serving than the 5 parts per billion (ppb) limit for adults set by the EPA as safe. (2)
What’s worse, many of these arsenic-containing rice products are marketed to children and infants as “health foods”, and children are far more susceptible to the dangerous impacts of arsenic exposure. (3, 4, 5) Research suggests that high levels of arsenic exposure during childhood are associated with neurobehavioral problems as well as cancer and lung disease later in life. (6) This means parents must be especially careful to avoid serving their children food with significant levels of arsenic.
While many of my readers follow a strict Paleo diet and couldn’t care less about arsenic in rice, there are many more who are more liberal in their diet and consume white rice as a “safe” starch. In fact, rice is often recommended by well-educated bloggers such as Paul Jaminet as a component of a perfectly healthy and enjoyable diet. I personally eat white rice on occasion and feel it is a safe starch for those who tolerate it. But now that there is a new issue with rice consumption, one that has nothing to do with carbohydrates, does that mean we should avoid it entirely?
White rice can be a “safe” starch
Many of the white rice products tested had fairly low levels of arsenic, and in the context of a few servings a week for an adult, it’s probably not an issue. As for very young children and infants, I don’t recommend serving them rice products in general, so they shouldn’t be exposed to arsenic from rice anyway. Pregnant women may want to be cautious about their rice intake, and minimize their exposure to arsenic to protect their developing fetus; finding another safe starch to replace rice during pregnancy would be wise.
So if you choose to purchase white rice, buy a brand made in California like Lundberg; their California White Basmati Rice has only 1.3 to 1.6 ppb arsenic per serving (1/4 cup uncooked), well below the safe limit. In addition, rinsing the rice before cooking and boiling it in a high water-to-rice ratio can help reduce the arsenic content significantly. (7) So if you want to keep white rice as a part of your diet, I recommend looking for a safe brand like Lundberg and rinsing the rice thoroughly before cooking in a large quantity of water; this should be adequate to make rice a safe food to eat in moderation.
Like what you’re reading? Get my free newsletter, recipes, eBooks, product recommendations, and more!
Brown rice: Not a health food!
Brown rice, on the other hand, has significantly more arsenic than white rice and should be avoided or consumed rarely. Some of the brown rice brands tested contained at least 50% more than the safe limit per serving, and a few even had nearly double the safe limit. (PDF with complete details of test results) Note that some of the worst offenders for arsenic are made from brown rice: processed rice products like brown rice syrup, brown rice pasta, rice cakes and brown rice crisps. These processed products are commonly consumed by those following a “healthy” whole grain rich or gluten-free diet, but they clearly pose a significant risk of arsenic overexposure, especially if a person eats more than one serving per day. Obviously, brown rice is not a food that should be a dietary staple, or even eaten on a regular basis.
#Arsenic: another reason to prefer white rice over brown?
Aside from having a higher arsenic content, there are other reasons to avoid brown rice: it’s harder to digest and nutrient absorption is likely inferior to white rice because of phytates in the rice bran. (8) Despite a higher nutrient content of brown rice compared to white rice, the anti-nutrients present in brown rice reduce the bioavailability of any vitamins and minerals present. (9) Plus, brown rice also reduces dietary protein and fat digestibility compared to white rice. (10)
No food is completely safe or without some level of contamination risk: vegetables make up 24 percent of our arsenic exposure and tap water can legally contain 10 ppb arsenic per liter (some systems even exceed the legal limit.) (11) So while rice may contribute an unsafe level of arsenic, it’s certainly not the only source in our diet, and we need to be cautious about demonizing an entire class of food based on a soundbite from a news story. While I don’t think rice is a necessary component of a healthy diet, I do think it can be incorporated safely as a source of starch: just be sure to pay attention to the brand you’re buying, as well as your method of preparation.
Better supplementation. Fewer supplements.
Close the nutrient gap to feel and perform your best.
A daily stack of supplements designed to meet your most critical needs.
Great article, Chris. I live in Japan, so this is a big issue for us over here. Brown rice isn’t very popular here due to the preference for white rice’s taste and texture, but brown rice is known as a health food here, as well. A lot of ex-pats still prefer brown rice over white, so I’ll be sure to spread this article around among my peers. Thanks!
Hi Chris
Don’t you think the arsenic can be eliminated from the body through cleansing methods? If other toxins can be cleansed out e.g. mercury, lead, why not this one?
My thoughts exactly Margaret, it does seem logical.
I don’t think it’s prudent to voluntarily expose yourself to a toxin and count on detox strategies to prevent harm.
“I don’t think it’s prudent to voluntarily expose yourself to a toxin and count on detox strategies to prevent harm.”
I’m confused because in another article Chris says that we should voluntarily eat 3 servings of fish per week and count on selenium to prevent harm from mercury. I think if the detox strategy actually works then it’s totally prudent, right? Or am I misunderstanding??
In theory you are of course right. However, it is also counterproductive to eat too limited a diet. There is no way to avoid everything that might have a negative effect. when improperly prepared. The Weston Price bunch seem to know about these things.
I have been health conscious for ages but am becoming alarmed at the proliferation of “bad” foods. I say, eat a reasonable diet, be grateful for it (the most important thing) and keep your liver healthy. Make sure you have sulfur in your diet.
Thank you so much for this information!
Rice is served in our house 1-3 times per month. White rice is the rice of choice. Family doesn’t really miss it. We eat Paleo, but still add in some “safe starches” occasionally. Thanks for all the great info.
So, how long does Arsenic stay in one’s system?
Rice is a huge staple for me, sometimes consuming it at all three meals. Because of multiple food allergies my diet consists of mostly rice, carrots, peas, beef, dark chocolate, cocnut oil, some fruit and sometimes fish. But in the last month I’ve started to develop chronic hives, breaking out at least once most days. Now I’m worried I may be overdoing the rice. Do you think arsenic could cause hives?
Hi Evan,
You may be an undermethylator (produce excess histamine), they are prone to outbreaks of hives. Sometimes food can exacerbate it but there is usually an underlying problem to be addressed.
Here’s an easy to understand explanation of methylation: http://www.enzymestuff.com/methylation.htm
If you can find a functional medicine practitioner who treats methylation, they can confirm if you’re an undermethylator and help you to address it. The most straightforward marker of methylation status (though it’s imperfect) is whole blood histamine.
Good luck!
Thanks for the link, I’ll check it out. That’s not something that I had considered. I know that one of the underlying issues for me is likely SIBO or a gut infection since I’m fairly thin and have fat malabsorption. I hope I can find a functional med. practitioner to work with. After countless appointments and testing with traditional doctors & $1500 out-of-pocket, all they were able to tell me was that I have IBS which is pretty much a useless diagnoses.
Hey Evan,
If I were you I would do a quick experiment and eliminate the dark chocolate and the rice for 4 days and clear it out of your system. Then reintroduce one of these at a time and see when and if the hives persists. Would be curious to see if it makes a difference for you. I have found that the dark chocolate to excess for me does it. Good luck
John
Thanks John for the recommendation, I’ll try it. Hopefully I can find a good substitute for the rice… it’s such a convenient carb source (which I need for my work), but very may well be causing issues. Also will try eliminating chocolate.
Both white rice and brown rice have a lectin in the chitin-binding lectin family that is often the cause of hives or escema in the people who consume it.
Interesting, that’s new info for me. Thanks gus.
Thank you for a very timely and balanced article, Chris. I’m concerned about certain supplements that use rice bran oil, for example Magnesium Citrate Softgels and gamma E complex from NOW Foods. I always thought this was a better alternative to ubiquitous soybean oil. I contacted Consumerlab (a subscriber) about it as Gamma E Complex by NOW foods has passed their testing. Haven’t gotten a reply so far, but they may be testing for lead only.
This is very interesting thank you. Does anyone know about Australian grown rice and whether arsenic is a problem here too?
Makes me wonder if soaking for several hours or overnight, rinsing well, then soaking for another 3-4 days and rinsing before cooking has a positive affect against the arsenic. I use only CA grown sushi rice or organic white basmati from India (Trader Joes). It ferments nicely and tastes delicious. I happen to like rice sort of gooey so using lots of water is no problem.
Thank you! The white rice vs. brown rice comparison is news to me. I feel bad that I’ve been recommending brown rice to people. White rice can’t be that nutritious, so I would recommend skipping it for something more nutritious. I’m off grains now for health reasons. Anyone with a heavy metal toxicity might consider giving up rice altogether.
Do you know how “safe” is white basmati rice from India or Pakistan?
I don’t specifically, but from what I’ve read rice from both India and Asia is lower in inorganic arsenic than rice from the southern U.S. states.
Where I live in Iran, Indian rice was announced to be unsafe due to high arsenic levels by the health ministry a few years ago (They said the arsenic stemmed from high levels in the cultivation soil) and it’s much cheaper than the Persians brands here.The import of some specific brands was even banned a few years ago.
is parboiled rice similar to brown rice?
What a well written and informative article, from you and consumer Reports… something good from America. I was particularly interested about the source of the contaminant outlined in CR. We eat little to no rice, I can’t do it, really, after surgery and radiotherapy for oral cancer, and we try to get most of what we eat from our property. Thanks to Dr LaLalond decriminalsing potatoes, I now feel no guilt getting my carb calories from our own varieties fo that marvelous tuber, the biggest source of vitamin C in NZ. Fat chance growing ric or sweet potatoes on the SI! (We do ruminants better than anyone)
Thanks for the heads up and, as always, looking forward to the next post.
Interesting stuff and a little concerning. I live iin part of Devon, England, where much of the arsenic came from that used to control the boll weevil in the USA cotton. When tin ran out they went for the arsenic in the same mines. This is back in the 18th-19th century but we thought it ironic to have the arsenic shipped back in the cotton and now in rice. Many gardens around this part of Devon are contaminated with arsenic and the growing of root vegetables is not advised. Don’t know if the USA used CCA as a pressurised wood treatment for fence posts etc. CCA (Copper, Chrome, Arsenic) was banned in 2005. A wound from a splinter from that wood used to take months to heal.
The trouble I undestand with arsenic is that it’s an accumulative poison. However small the amount you consume, it stays in the body and slowly builds up. Please someone tell me that this isn’t true.
It was the slow build up of arsenic from the green dye in wallpaper that supposedly killed Napoleon while in exile and William Morris the designer had shares in an arsenic mine near here. Some wallpaper in stately homes has to be covered to prevent wandering hands from absorbing the arsenic.
Esteri – Puzzled to hear rice bran described as a super-food. I thought all bran was indigestible and linked to irritable bowel syndrome. I guess rice bran is different to that of other grains.
This is true of many toxins in the environment, and the reality is that we’re exposed to them in many different ways. The good news is that we have some ability to handle a low exposure, which is why the safe limits for many are not “zero”.
But doesn’t multiple exposure, however low, if accumulative, become one large exposure? Those scraping the white arsenic from the sides of horizontal flues it condensed on wore only damp cloths over their heads and mouths yet were reputed to be some of the healthiest around. There is no record of how their average lifespan may have been changed for better or worse.
A cursory look online seems to imply that glutathione helps detox arsenic from your body. Helping to insure good glutathione status certainly wouldn’t hurt in any case.
I am 22 weeks pregnant and don’t seem to gain a lot of weight with the Paleo diet, so I added more organic white basmati rice and sweet potatoes. Thank you so much for your article, I will stop the rice consumptions.. Just trying to protect the little one, which is not easy in our world..
You need not eliminate it completely. Just choose white rice from brands that have low inorganic arsenic content.
How do you find the list of safe brands?
Go to the full Consumer Reports article. Google “Consumer Reports arsenic in food”.
Re: arsenic, why are the levels high in fruit juices, esp. apple juice? Is it also high in apples, or is there something else going on in the juice production process that adds arsenic?
Thanks, J
The apple seeds (as in some other fruits like apricots) are high in arsenic. I would imagine that the pulverization used in the juice making process releases the seeds’ arsenic into the juice.
I’m really bummed by this. White rice has been my go to starch for a myriad of reasons not the least of which is convenience and it really helps me fuel my cycling.
Greg: most varieties of white rice on the Consumer Reports list were within the safe limits for a 1/4 cup serving of uncooked rice per day. No reason to eliminate it completely; just be smart about where you get it.
Chris,
You’ve mentioned the advantages of bacon, but I’m curious what your opinion of it’s advanced glycation end product content is and whether this should be a reason to avoid it. Cordain’s latest book lists bacon as having the highest age product level by far.
I find this all frustrating. One more food to cross off my list.
I am very frustrated as well. I find out it was sugar and the wrong foods that was causing all of my health issues. It was hard to make all the changes and yet here I am again facing change.
I eat alot of white rice. I am gluten free. Could you give specific brands to buy? Or point me in the direction of Consumer Reports test results? Thank you!