Do you really need to worry about arsenic in rice?

Kate Carter, Senior health writer, Which? Click here for full article

We sort fact from fiction and reveal ways to minimise the risk

Recent alarming headlines about the levels of arsenic and other heavy metals in rice may have had you reconsidering your meal options.

But there's no need to panic – the risk is relatively small. And if you do eat a lot of rice, there are cooking tricks that can help minimise your exposure.

UK food safety standards are among the highest in the world, and while arsenic is a known toxin, the risk in foods is not necessarily about a single meal, but about long-term exposure. 

There are some groups who need to take extra care, though.

Why is there arsenic in rice?

Arsenic is a naturally occurring substance found in soil. Because rice is grown in flooded conditions (eg wet rice fields) it absorbs inorganic arsenic more effectively than other grains. 

Dr Manoj Menon, a soil scientist and lecturer from the University of Sheffield, explains: ‘Arsenic is a carcinogen and poison, and we should minimise exposure as much as we can. However, arsenic is also ubiquitous, and it is not possible to eliminate it completely from our food chain.’ 

So, some exposure is inevitable, but we can take steps to minimise that. Reasons to be reassured? The UK enforces high food safety standards (retained from EU law) including strict maximum limits for inorganic arsenic in food products.

Dr Menon also points out that ‘exposure risk is based on the amount of rice one consumes, and in the UK our per capita consumption is so low that it does not pose a serious concern, in comparison to Asian countries where rice is one of their major staples. Together with regulations and cooking methods, everyone can enjoy rice!’

Rice advice for babies and toddlers 

It's understandable that parents might be concerned, particularly as ‘baby rice’ is a common product fed to young children. The British Specialist Nutrition Association (BSNA) represents baby and young child food manufacturers, and we reached out to it for comment:

‘While parents are understandably concerned at the idea that arsenic may be in foods, we want to reassure them firstly that the UK has some of the strictest food safety controls in the world, and the rules for baby foods are stricter still.’

Levels for the general population Inorganic arsenic concentrations must be less than 0.20 mg/kg in white (polished) rice and less than 0.25 mg/kg in brown (unpolished) rice.

Levels for rice used in infant food The 'raw' rice bought by manufacturers to use as an ingredient must have concentrations of less than 0.10 mg/kg. Once it's turned into the finished product (like a jar of baby food), the limit can be as low as 0.02 mg/kg – which is 10 times stricter than standard white rice.

As the BSNA points out, this means that foods produced specifically for infants and young children are subject to inorganic arsenic limits that are around three times lower (or more) than those applied to equivalent general foods.