The FDA says it will complete its comprehensive study of 1,200 rice samples by the end of 2012, and will determine then whether to issue additional recommendations. Consumer Reports is less cautious, however. Its study reviewed only 200 rice samples, but concludes that to be safe, people - especially infants - should limit rice consumption.
Ami Gadhia, with Consumer Reports, said there is a heightened focus on this issue.
“From a public health standpoint, there is great deal of concern about what babies are ingesting. Very often the first solid food that babies are given is rice cereal, and to see arsenic in that product is obviously a problem," said Gadhia. "We also saw levels in rice milk, and sometimes if children are allergic to cow milk they are given rice milk.”
Consumer Reports and FDA officials agree the results in their separate studies are similar, but only the FDA can set national industry standards.
Arsenic, a known carcinogen, is a contaminant that comes in two forms: organic and inorganic. Organic arsenic occurs naturally in the soil and water. Inorganic arsenic comes mainly from commercial fertilizers and pesticides used in agriculture.
“Many of those pesticides were banned many years ago. Unfortunately, those pesticides and the arsenic in them remain in the soil, and so it is still getting into the rice plants," said Gadhia.
Gadhia said the highest levels of arsenic were found in samples of rice from the south-central U.S. The lowest arsenic levels were in rice from California, India and Thailand.
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