Not in My Food.org : Know what you're eating
The latest issue of Consumer Reports features a powerful report on the presence of arsenic in rice and makes recommendations to both consumers and the government. Almost immediately, the FDA took steps to address the problem and lawmakers filed bills. We’re a long way from real reform, but this was a big first step.
This early victory is yours as much as it is ours. So what has happened so far?
When the story broke, the Washington Post wrote a piece essentially crediting CR with getting the government to commit to setting standards for arsenic in rice and prompting them to release their own data on the same day.
Now, three members of Congress have introduced legislation setting limits on arsenic in rice, crediting Consumer Reports for prompting the move, as noted in The Los Angeles Times. The Chicago Tribune reports that Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan released separate findings and called on the FDA to set limits.
Perhaps most important, our “tips” on how to reduce your arsenic intake — like using a lot more water when you cook rice — have been heard or seen by millions. The Today Show covered our findings in an eight minute segment that also featured Dr. Mehmet Oz reinforcing our advice. In fact, all three morning shows and the evening news reported on the study and featured our chief scientist, Dr. Urvashi Rangan.
Our tips reached moms and families through a range of alternative media outlets (Mother Nature Network), activist blogs (Mother Jones) and food writers (New York Times’ Mark Bittman tweeted our action to the government). We are helping to generate an incredible movement for change.
We are so grateful for your support, and we hope to continue working with you to improve the marketplace and serve consumers for many more years to come.
I’m curious as to the new recommendation of cooking rice, now that we are aware of the arsenic levels, do we just wash the rice more throughly , does anyone know the proper procedure ? is arsenic one of those chemicals that we are able to build immunities and therefore build up resistance in the long haul ?
You don’t build resistance to any chemicals. You build resistance to bacteria. The only thing you can do with chemicals is detox.
I wonder whether buying rice that is imported from China would not be a better idea (ironically), since they may not experience the same factory farming run-off that we do in the USA. Response?
I suggest to wash rice,soak it for about 8 hours, discard the soaking water and add fresh water to cook. Cooking in more than the usual amount of water would make it like cereal.
Cook the rice like you would noodles, with tons of water. Boil 10 to twelve minutes and then strain.
How about just don’t eat the stuff! As for buying rice from China, I wouldn’t eat anything grown there! Those people will poison their own people to make a buck! They sure don’t care about you or me! The bigger question in my mind is rice used in dog food. Think about it! You feed your dog chicken and rice, lamb and rice, turkey and rice, and so on. That’s all they eat, day in and day out. Arsenic builds up in the system and is a carcinogen. Is it any wonder that more dogs have cancer? Someone needs to address this also!!!!
Ok , so we know about the arsenic in rice for human consumption. What about our pets? There are alot of pet food out there with brown and white rice as one or both of the ingredients. How do we find out about that?
I do not use white rice; only brown…all types. Does the caution apply to non-white rice?
Brown rice is worse because the hull hasn’t been removed.
Yes, brown rice is also affected.
Apparently everyone is overlooking the obvious: Trace amounts of(organic) arsenic are always in our water, but if the water has been fluoridated (BTW it is NOT pharmaceutical grade “fluoride,” but instead hydrofluorosilicic acid, a TOXIC by-product of the aluminum and fertilizer industries), the arsenic level is MUCH higher. Do your research, people. The information is out there…
Its funny that this story gets all the attention when us Americans eating poisonous foods daily without worry. Most people are unaware that GMO foods are all the main foods we eat constantly and that rice is one of them. Rice, corn, soy and canola are some you are eating everyday. GMO foods have been around for about the last 20 years. Almost every non-organic food you eat has a plant source that now genetically creates it’s own pesticide and/or is resistant to extremely heavy dousings of Roundup. These products that the FDA says are safe have never been forced to be tested and proven safe. We are guinnie pigs to find out if they are or not. So far, however, all the evidence has shown they are NOT. Rampant tumors/cancers are just some of the effects. Americans (us FREE people) are not even concerned that our government allows us to basically be poisoned without our knowlege. Californians are trying to get it passed to label gmo foods. That was we, as consumers, can make our own choices. If it passes in California, it may get it changed everywhere. Europe already is required to label, but we don’t seem to care a bit. Very sad and scary. Please look into it. We should ALL care about this!
“GMO foods have been around for about the last 20 years.” sorry buddy but you are off by several millennia as far as how long genetically modified foods have been around. Every time you choose to plant a seed from one plant over another you are “genetically modifying” that species. the ONLY difference now is that instead of macro-modifying the food as was being done in the past is that the modifications are being done at the microscopic level. ALL the foods you eat whether they are “organic” or otherwise is or has been modified from what it was several generations prior. The ONLY way you are not going to have any modifications is if you start cloning the food product whether it is plant, meat or processed.
I read of the arsenic pollution just prior to preparing rice pudding for my grandchildren. I called the 800-number on the package of Kroger brand long-grain rice. I was told that there was “no way to tell where the rice came from.” So I called back and found a more sympathetic attendant from the “product specialty department” who said she would have someone contact me. That did not happen.
Eventually, I left a message at executive headquarters (not an 800-number)for a regional product safety manager, Ron Seay, who did call back in a day or two. He had never heard of this problem. He was a bit nonplussed when I recounted the multiple news sources that had informed me. He said he would look into it and call me back. That was two days ago. I’m still waiting.
All I want to know is where did the rice grow. Why is that so hard to ascertain?
Best suggestion for rice & bean eaters: rinse well, soak overnight in a large amount of purified water, drain, rinse again, cook in lots of water,drain & rinse again before serving. The solution to pollution may not always be dilution, but it’s a good practice anyway. We can’t eliminate all the hazards in life, just minimize our exposure to them. Unnecessary risk is unacceptable risk. I intend to eliminate brown rice until monitoring standards are in place. If enough of us do this the industry may form testing cooperatives so they can post arsenic levels for conscious consumers to make educated choices between their product and competitors. Unfortunately ignorant consumers make decisions on price, not nutritional content, hence the disappearance of organic food from major chains. The old saw is that we can pay our organic farmer today or our oncologist tomorrow, but in this case even organic brown rice has high levels of arsenic.
Concern over the unknown seems to be a big part of what is going on with the alarmist arsenic in rice controversy. Lets encourage sensible research, get the facts, and then act ratuionally and in responsible ways.
As to GMO grains, you can choose to eat them or not, as well as the chicken, pork, beef, and fish that consume those feeds. But if you do, please enjoy that these foods are much less expensive as a result of GMO and other agricultural technologies. The largest part of what you pay for food is processing, packaging, transportation and advertising.
Talk about possible contaminated or toxic foods, maybe we should first require labeling, sampling, testing and labeling all imported foods. The risk is much greater, I think than normal, natural arsenic in rice.
Beyond that, if we want affordable, US grown fruits and vegetables, we need to expedite immigration policies that will allow much greater availability of Mexican and other farm workers.
WE don’t eat a lot of rice in our home but do use rice bran oil. Would that be a source of increased arsenic as well? Even more concentrated?
Does cooking brown rice for 55minutes in chicken broth decrease or increase the arsenic level in the rice? Reply?
Ralph,
All animals store toxins they intake in their fat cells, so eating lower on the food chain will reduce the amount of toxins in your diet. Wild caught shrimp or krill is probably the least contaminated B12-containing animal protein you can consume, but beware of Gulf of Mexico sources, which often have Corexit chemicals in them. Farmed shrimp, however, is often contaminated with pesticides, herbicides, and antibiotics. Your best bet to eat clean is to go vegan, using sublingual B12 drops. Directly addressing your question about chicken broth:
http://www.naturalnews.com/032659_arsenic_chicken.html
Another concern I’d have is the BPA in canned chicken broth. It’s an endocrine disrupter and cancer-causing lining of all canned foods. The alternative, BPS, used in “BPA-free” cans is even worse.
John,
Because the arsenic in rice is primarily sequestered in the hull (hence brown rice’s higher content) I’d be suspicious of oil made from the bran. The safest oil is probably coconut, which has many benefits, as well as requiring no refrigeration.
http://www.naturalhealth365.com/food/tooth-decay.html
best regards,
R2
This is not a good cause.
Arsenic is widely and unavoidably present in food. For example, the FDA Total Food Study showed the following food arsenic levels to be:
tuna, canned in oil Arsenic 0.980 mg/kg
white rice, cooked Arsenic 0.065 mg/kg
pear, raw Arsenic 0.008 mg/kg
People eat these foods everyday without the slightest concern. I don’t believe you should suggest that danger lies therein.
There are no data to support that further reduction in arsenic brings any health benefits. This was discussed in detail when the EPA lowered the allowable arsenic in drinking water.
A large ecologic of bladder cancer rates in the US found no relationship between drinking water arsenic and bladder cancer. Arsenic in that study often far exceeded the previous maximum allowed.
An Ecological Study of Arsenic-Related Bladder Cancer in U.S. Counties: Effects of Reference Populations and Confounders on the Calculated Risks. Sandia Report SAND2004-1379P. January 2006. Malcolm D. Siegel http://www.sandia.gov/water/docs/SAND2004-1379P.pdf
Also, using synthetic diets, arsenic has been demonstrated to be an essential nutrient for a number of domestic animals.
See:
Environmental Geochemistry and Health. Volume 14, Number 2, 55-58, Evidence for arsenic essentiality, Eric O. Uthus
http://www.springerlink.com/content/t53978575g8u8h0q/
Arsenic essentiality: A role affecting methionine metabolism. The Journal of Trace Elements in Experimental Medicine. Volume 16, Issue 4, pages 345–355, 2003, Eric O. Uthus
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jtra.10044/abstract
These are simply additional facets of the “arsenic toxicity” issue which strongly reinforce the view that arsenic in both food and water as currently regulated is not a public health danger.