Now rice is tainted with arsenic?

[Katy]

Since I'm allergic to wheat, at least 5/7 weekly dinners (and leftover lunches the following day) are rice based (pasta, bread, rice itself). And now one serving can raise arsenic levels in your body by 40%; two servings by 70%!

 

And we're supposed to limit rice consumption, cook it in a 6:1 water ratio, and choose white over brown???

 

I guess we'll switch to more organics? I don't know what else to do.

 

Has anyone read the studies? Please tell me all this is overblown.

[Jenny in Florida]

I have no idea. Where are you getting this info?

 

I searched and found this:

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/ct-nw-rice-arsenic-20120919,0,485089.story

 

I'll admit this causes me concern, since the information is from a reputable source, based on two studies. We eat a LOT of rice around here. So, clearly I need to do some more research.

[marbel]

I'm interested in this too; we don't eat a lot of rice but we mostly eat brown.

 

6:1 water/rice ratio? That doesn't even make sense. Either you'd have rice soup, or the rice would absorb the water and the arsenic is still there?

 

Do you have a link to an article?

[stripe]

The article seems to be about rice cereal / formula for babies. Does this apply to regular rice?

[Guest submarines]

The article seems to be about rice cereal / formula for babies. Does this apply to regular rice?

 

I does apply to rice milk as well.

[stripe]

I don't see why it wouldn't. Rice is rice right?

 

Rice cereal or rice formula is not just rice. It is ground and has other things added.

 

From consumer reports

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine/2012/11/arsenic-in-your-food/index.htm

[LaxMom]

I searched and found this:

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/ct-nw-rice-arsenic-20120919,0,485089.story

 

I'll admit this causes me concern, since the information is from a reputable source, based on two studies. We eat a LOT of rice around here. So, clearly I need to do some more research.

 

:iagree: I don't generally get too excited about stuff that naturally occurs in soil, but I think this is worth looking into further. We do buy mostly organic (or Lundberg's "eco") so I'm not super concerned about pesticides but, if rice has an affinity for arsenic (or other heavy metals), I would like to see some information on that.

[Katy]

It's on this morning's Good Morning America. I'm sure it will be on the ABC News website shortly if it's not already.

 

Apparently it's ALL rice products; they said that because rice is grown in water it means more pesticides contaminate the plant (it made no sense to me).

[Parrothead]

I'm interested in this too; we don't eat a lot of rice but we mostly eat brown.

 

6:1 water/rice ratio? That doesn't even make sense. Either you'd have rice soup, or the rice would absorb the water and the arsenic is still there?

 

Do you have a link to an article?

Actually I cook my brown rice at about that ratio. I drain it after the rice pops then put it back in the cooking pot. Cover it and put it on the stove (no heat) for 5 minutes to steam. It makes the best brown rice ever.

 

Saveur

[Parrothead]

It's on this morning's Good Morning America. I'm sure it will be on the ABC News website shortly if it's not already.

 

Apparently it's ALL rice products; they said that because rice is grown in water it means more pesticides contaminate the plant (it made no sense to me).

Think dyed carnations. They put the dye in the water and the stem soaks it up into the flower. Same principal with the pesticide contaminates in the water which grows the rice.

[stripe]

Mother Jones quotes Nature magazine for saying American rice has vastly higher arsenic in it than rice from Europe, India, or Bangaldesh. They also quote Consumer's Union (who make consumer reports) notation of the use of arsenic in fields that used to grown cotton, where arsenic used to be used. Furthermore they say arsenic is used in chicken feed, which comes put in their waste, which is remade as fertilizer, used in rice fields and the run off in water.

 

http://www.motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2012/09/waiter-theres-arsenic-my-rice

 

Consumer Reports (see my previous link) has a chart. All rice products do not show identical arsenic levels.

[sbgrace]

We are and have been (for a long time) heavy on brown rice so this bothers me. I think the science is probably sound and the information has been out there a while without a lot of publicity. I read it years ago and tried to ignore it though I switched out from brown rice oil as my primary cooking oil, stopped using rice milk, and we started using more alternative gluten free grains. Then my husband became anaphylactic to buckwheat which was the only one everyone seemed to like. My kids are having rice cereal for breakfast this morning.

 

 

Another problem is brown rice syrup. I got the impression the concentrated nature might be even worse and it's used to sweeten lots of organic stuff. We have these gluten free, nut safe granola bars my kids adore. It's one thing my spectrum son eats a lot of. They are sweetened with brown rice syrup. I've been trying to make an allergen safe granola spectrum child will eat. It stinks and organic, in my understanding, doesn't matter at all.

Edited September 19, 2012 by sbgrace

[LaxMom]

I'm interested in this too; we don't eat a lot of rice but we mostly eat brown.

 

6:1 water/rice ratio? That doesn't even make sense. Either you'd have rice soup, or the rice would absorb the water and the arsenic is still there?

 

Do you have a link to an article?

 

Rice can be cooked like pasta. I assume the idea is that the arsenic is somewhat extracted into the water, which you then drain off.

[marbel]

Actually I cook my brown rice at about that ratio. I drain it after the rice pops then put it back in the cooking pot. Cover it and put it on the stove (no heat) for 5 minutes to steam. It makes the best brown rice ever.

 

Saveur

 

Rice can be cooked like pasta. I assume the idea is that the arsenic is somewhat extracted into the water, which you then drain off.

 

Wow, all these years of cooking rice and I never knew that.

 

Of course it may not matter if we stop eating rice altogether. But, thanks for that tidbit of information.

[emzhengjiu]

The article I read this morning said rice grown in Texas, Louisiana, and Missouri had the highest levels because of arsenic in the soil from cotton farming. Brown rice has more arsenic than white. I have no idea where the rice we buy is grown. I guess we'll buy from our local Asian market from now on. And I've been trying to buy locally grown products.

[Annie]

Sigh. Why does it seem like nothing in life can be simple? Rice? Augh. One more thing to think about.

[FairProspects]

Well, those of us with food allergies are screwed. Rice is one of the only grains nobody is allergic to around here.

 

What other kind of milk can ds possibly drink? He is allergic to dairy and tree nuts.

Edited September 19, 2012 by FairProspects

[plain jane]

Well, those of us with food allergies are screwed. Rice is one of the only grains nobody is allergic to around here.

 

What other kind of milk can ds possibly drink? He is allergic to dairy and tree nuts.

 

There's also hemp milk and coconut milk. Can he have either of those?

[cin]

Sigh. Why does it seem like nothing in life can be simple? Rice? Augh. One more thing to think about.

 

Check the carp that is in tap water. Rice and Water. Just give me a gun.

[justamouse]

Sigh. Why does it seem like nothing in life can be simple? Rice? Augh. One more thing to think about.

 

:iagree::iagree::iagree:

 

I'm getting quite stinking pissed about it all.

[gardenmom5]

I don't see why it wouldn't. Rice is rice right?

no. it depends upon processing.

 

some high-fructose corn syrup contains mercury. (the caustic soda used to extract and concentrate the sugars has mercury in it.) some manufacturers are now changing their processing methodology so not all sources contain it anymore, but it's something that is not labeled. we have to treat it as though all sources contain mercury and just avoid it. (I learned this because my son's mercury levels were the equivalent of "swallowing a thermometer". - he's now being treated for it and we are seeing a difference. his blood levels will be retested in another month or so.)

[NoPlaceLikeHome]

What about organic rice? Does organic rice have the same problem or not?

[Abigail4476]

According to the CBSNews article, the concern is mostly about rice grown in Gulf Coast areas--Louisiana & Texas. It has to do with cotton crops that were treated with arsenic based pesticides years ago and now the same fields are used to grow rice. Brown rice is possibly worse, since it still has the shell. I asked my deep-south-dwelling sister about the article and she seemed nonplussed, replying, "That's why southerners rinse their rice." :001_huh:

[Abigail4476]

What about organic rice? Does organic rice have the same problem or not?

 

It depends on where it's grown. Even if current growers aren't using pesticides, this has to do with pesticides in the soil from a long time ago.

 

Quote from CBSNews:

 

"'When there was cotton there they had to treat the cotton with arsenic pesticides to control the bowl weevil," he said. "Now a century later, that arsenic is still in the soil, the rice is very effective at pulling it out of the soil in and it concentrates in the rice.'"

[Laurie]

Here's an article about arsenic in apple and grape juice:

 

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/consumer-reports-magazine-january-2012/arsenic-in-your-juice/index.htm

[Parrothead]

Here's an article about arsenic in apple and grape juice:

 

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/consumer-reports-magazine-january-2012/arsenic-in-your-juice/index.htm

 

Found in the above linked article was this PDF which lists amounts of arsenic in juice.

 

Why am I surprised that there was not one juice tested that contained no arsenic?

[cin]

So now I wonder if it is even possible to get rid of the arsenic and previous pesticides in the ground and water? How can we clean it up? Or can we. Do we just need to leave the fields empty for a couple hundred years until they are safe again? What is the half-life of arsenic, anyway?

[Liz CA]

Lundberg Organic Rice. Comparatively small operation. They ship into all corners of the country.

[Soror]

This isn't new news. But I only have room to worry about so much things, so it doesn't stay in the forefront of my mind. We do white basmati rice when we do rice from Thailand usually (not sure on it's particular level). I don't usually eat rice but rarely, the kids and dh do a few times a week or so.

[Parrothead]

So now I wonder if it is even possible to get rid of the arsenic and previous pesticides in the ground and water? How can we clean it up? Or can we. Do we just need to leave the fields empty for a couple hundred years until they are safe again? What is the half-life of arsenic, anyway?

I suppose it depends.

Naturally occurring arsenic is composed of one stable isotope, As. As of 2003, at least 33 radioisotopes have also been synthesized, ranging in atomic mass from 60 to 92. The most stable of these is 73As with a half-life of 80.3 days. Isotopes that are lighter than the stable 75As tend to decay by β+ decay, and those that are heavier tend to decay by β- decay, with some exceptions.

At least 10 nuclear isomers have been described, ranging in atomic mass from 66 to 84. The most stable of arsenic's isomers is 68mAs with a half-life of 111 seconds.[/url]

 

Source

[Parrothead]

It would help if people prepared their rice like those in Asia do.

I'd be most concerned about young kids.

I think a huge amount of rice is from Southern states. And to another poster--basmati rice is so much more expensive that regular white, so that's not an option for the masses.

How do Asians prepare rice?

[Upward Journey]

Lundberg Organic Rice. Comparatively small operation. They ship into all corners of the country.

 

:iagree:and their rice is sooooo good!

[Trillian]

In the Consumer Reports article, Lunberg's white did well, but not their brown. It's not really about being organic.

[MelAR05]

Arkansas also grows rice and use to grow cotton. Riceland rice uses rice from here and other states in the South. Add all the lovely Tyson chicken farms and we are rocking it here. :tongue_smilie:

 

And now off to study about mercury in high fructose syrup. :banghead:

[Soror]

And to another poster--basmati rice is so much more expensive that regular white, so that's not an option for the masses.

 

I'm only responsible for my own family not everyone elses. Just throwing out there what we do. I don't have enough mental or physical energy to focus on more than that at the moment. Dh vastly prefers basmati and we don't eat it a lot, so the expense isn't that great.

[In the Rain]

I feel really worried for GF people, who have been eating a rice heavy diet. :001_huh: I guess this is one benefit of eating a variety of foods. You just get a little bit of the poisons from all the different foods instead of too much of any one toxic substance. :tongue_smilie: I hate that it is so hard to just feed my family and feel good about it. :glare:

[mirth]

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine/2012/11/arsenic-in-your-food/index.htm#chart

 

Not sure if anyone's posted this CR chart yet.

 

Excerpt:

 

"Change the way you cook rice. You may be able to cut your exposure to inorganic arsenic in rice by rinsing raw rice thoroughly before cooking, using a ratio of 6 cups water to 1 cup rice for cooking and draining the excess water afterward. That is a traditional method of cooking rice in Asia. The modern technique of cooking rice in water that is entirely absorbed by the grains has been promoted because it allows rice to retain more of its vitamins and other nutrients. But even though you may sacrifice some of rice's nutritional value, research has shown that rinsing and using more water removes about 30 percent of the rice's inorganic arsenic content."

Edited September 19, 2012 by mirth

[celticmom]

I feel really worried for GF people, who have been eating a rice heavy diet. :001_huh: I guess this is one benefit of eating a variety of foods. You just get a little bit of the poisons from all the different foods instead of too much of any one toxic substance. :tongue_smilie: I hate that it is so hard to just feed my family and feel good about it. :glare:

 

:iagree:It certainly seems impossible to be confident of the safety of food now.

[Parrothead]

I believe it's soaked and drained a couple times, then cooked more like a pasta.

Some elderly Asian man told me that recently in response to the arsenic question, but maybe that was only his way...

That actually sounds right. Like it jogged a memory of something I've read before.

[LibraryLover]

Dang.

 

I'm reading brown rice has higher levels because there is arsenic in the bran, and organic doesn't matter. They recommend rinsing it first, as that will remove some. The 6 parts water to 1 part rice is how many folks cook rice. You do lose some nutrients with that amount of water, but it does help reduce the arsenic levels.

 

I like that Lundberg is discussing this with the consumer, and is taking steps to bring those numbers down.

 

The recommendation is to eat a variety of grains, imcluding quiona etc.

Not sure how that plays out finacially for people.

 

ETA: Sorry about repeating what was said above. I didn't read through. Shame on me.

Edited September 19, 2012 by LibraryLover

[LibraryLover]

Arkansas also grows rice and use to grow cotton. Riceland rice uses rice from here and other states in the South. Add all the lovely Tyson chicken farms and we are rocking it here. :tongue_smilie:

 

And now off to study about mercury in high fructose syrup. :banghead:

 

 

Tyson. Right up there with Monsatan. They are also destroying estuaries with their toxic chicken waste.

[lisamarie]

It would help if people prepared their rice like those in Asia do.

 

I think a huge amount of rice is from Southern states. And to another poster--basmati rice is so much more expensive that regular white, so that's not an option for the masses.

 

The Asians do the 6 parts water/1 part rice and then drain off the excess water which cuts the inorganic arsenic by 30% per the consumers article.

 

And that's just one more reason why we only eat basmati rice-both brown and white-that is imported from Thailand. No, it's not the cheapest, but it's good. We have one brand that I buy exclusively and I drive 20 minutes to go to the Asian food store just to buy it. We eat rice 3-4 times a week, if not more.

[In the Rain]

Does anyone know if an electric rice cooker could handle this method of cooking rice in lots of water to have the excess poured off at the end? I was thinking somehow the cooker sensed when all of the water was absorbed. I'd be open to trying the method involving draining. I'm just not sure how I would do it with the rice cooker.

 

Has anyone tried this?

[Arcadia]

Does anyone know if an electric rice cooker could handle this method of cooking rice in lots of water to have the excess poured off at the end? I was thinking somehow the cooker sensed when all of the water was absorbed.

 

It would only work if you first time how long it takes for your rice to cook in your rice cooker. Than switch off your rice cooker at that time interval when you cook with excess water. Else your cooker would normally only turn off when all water is absorbed.

[stripe]

Does anyone know if an electric rice cooker could handle this method of cooking rice in lots of water to have the excess poured off at the end? I was thinking somehow the cooker sensed when all of the water was absorbed. I'd be open to trying the method involving draining. I'm just not sure how I would do it with the rice cooker.

 

No. The rice cooker uses the absorption method and (unless you have a huge one) wouldn't hold the extra water. You could use imported white rice and rinse well before cooking. Not all Asian people cook rice in the style of pasta, anyway.

[Tammyla]

Where I lived, everyone seemed to rinse it and used rice cooker.

 

How do Asians prepare rice?

[mirth]

Does anyone know if an electric rice cooker could handle this method of cooking rice in lots of water to have the excess poured off at the end? I was thinking somehow the cooker sensed when all of the water was absorbed.

 

I'll rinse and buy Californian white rice until arsenic is legislated out of the rice cooker, but I will not make soupy rice porridge that needs to be drained all the while trying to usurp every control on my highly beloved Zo. Agree ... definitely not all Asians cook rice in the pasta manner.

Edited September 19, 2012 by mirth

[Alyeska]

Well, those of us with food allergies are screwed. Rice is one of the only grains nobody is allergic to around here.

 

What other kind of milk can ds possibly drink? He is allergic to dairy and tree nuts.

 

Yep. Same here. Rice milk, water, and juice is all that dd drinks. I've tried to get her to drink coconut milk more, but she really prefers rice and would rather drink nothing than drink coconut milk exclusively.

[Soror]

Yep. Same here. Rice milk, water, and juice is all that dd drinks. I've tried to get her to drink coconut milk more, but she really prefers rice and would rather drink nothing than drink coconut milk exclusively.

 

Mine have generally only drank water 90% of the time. I rarely buy juice and sometimes almond milk but it is not a regular occurrence.

[Alyeska]

Mine have generally only drank water 90% of the time. I rarely buy juice and sometimes almond milk but it is not a regular occurrence.

 

That is fantastic! I require that my kiddos drink 3 cups of water per day or they lose their computer priviledges. lol. They wouldn't drink ANY water if I didn't make them.

Edited September 19, 2012 by Alyeska
...because i have terrible grammar skills...lol