Consumer Reports in 2015, “one serving of either [rice cereal or
rice pasta] could put kids over the maximum amount of rice we
recommend they should have in a week.” For this reason, the
advocacy branch of Consumer Reports has been fighting for a
legal limit of arsenic in infant rice cereals since 2012. Parents
are usually instructed to start babies on fortified rice cereal in
order to provide iron in their babies’ diets. The US Food and
Drug Administration (FDA) has proposed but not adopted an
official standard, so consumers are left waiting for rice cereals
and other rice-based foods (such as rice milk) to have this pro-
tection put in place. Fortunately, other fortified infant cereals
like barley and oatmeal are excellent sources of iron as well.
Although there may be other reasons to buy organic rice,
arsenic content isn’t one of them. The arsenic comes primarily
from the ground and is absorbed by the rice plant the same
way whether it’s organically or conventionally grown. Where
the rice is grown can make more of a difference, as can the type
of rice. That 2015 report from Consumer Reports found that
brown basmati rice grown in California, India, or Pakistan had
a third less arsenic per serving than other sources of brown rice.
The other major rice-growing states of the United States—
Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and Texas—may
have residual arsenic-containing pesticides that were for
decades sprayed on cotton grown in those areas. Good to know,
but it’s a tall order to check the place of origin on every Chinese
take-out dish or rice-based grocery product you buy.
HOW YOU CAN MINIMIZE ARSENIC INTAKE
Rinse raw rice before you cook it. Cook using a ratio of at least 6
cups water to 1 cup rice, and drain the remaining water after-
ward. According to Consumer Reports, these three techniques
can lower arsenic exposure compared with the modern way of
cooking rice to absorb all the water in which it cooks.
40 how to be a Conscious Eater