FDA releases analysis of arsenic in rice, prompting conflicting advice on consumption
September 06, 2013 | 07:40 PM
The Food and Drug Administration today released results of a study of arsenic in rice, prompting Consumers Union to urge consumers, particularly pregnant women and children, to limit their rice consumption and the USA Rice Federation to note that the FDA did not make any statements on consumption.
FDA noted it was releasing analysis of approximately 1,100 new samples of rice and rice products as part of a major effort to understand and manage possible arsenic-related risks associated with the consumption of these foods in the U.S. marketplace.
Inorganic arsenic can cause cancer. The Environmental Protection Agency has set a standard for arsenic in drinking water of 10 parts per billion and FDA has set the same standard for apple juice.
Inorganic arsenic in rice varies by type and product. FDA found that brown rice had 160 parts per billion of inorganic arsenic per serving, infant rice cereal 120 and rice wine 11.
“All of the data suggest levels that are not high enough to give us cause for concern for immediate or near-term effects,” FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg told USA Today.
The next steps are “to look at exposure levels, to analyze the risk, and determine how to minimize that risk for the overall safety of consumers, including vulnerable groups like children and pregnant women,” Suzanne C. Fitzpatrick, senior adviser for toxicology at the FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, told CBS News.
These 1,100 new samples are in addition to the approximately 200 samples of rice and rice products that the agency initially tested and released the findings on in September 2012, FDA said.
Urvashi Rangan
“We commend the Food and Drug Administration for releasing arsenic data on more than 1300 samples of rice and rice products,” said Urvashi Rangan, director of consumer safety and sustainability at Consumer Reports, the Consumer Union magazine.
“This data, similar to ours, underscores the importance of dealing with the long-term health effects of arsenic exposure in the food supply. We share the agency’s recommendation that consumers should diversify the grains in their diets.”
The USA Rice Federation said the FDA had taken “an appropriate, science-based methodical approach” and that rice growers were encouraged by the agency’s approach.
Reece Langley
But Reece Langley of the federation also told The Hagstrom Report that after Consumers Union last year released its own data and called on people to change their diets, brown rice sales did go down.
Langley said USA Rice’s main concern at the moment is that Consumers Union will call on FDA to set a standard for arsenic in rice.
“We think that is getting too far out there at this point,” Langley said.
FDA noted it was releasing analysis of approximately 1,100 new samples of rice and rice products as part of a major effort to understand and manage possible arsenic-related risks associated with the consumption of these foods in the U.S. marketplace.
Inorganic arsenic can cause cancer. The Environmental Protection Agency has set a standard for arsenic in drinking water of 10 parts per billion and FDA has set the same standard for apple juice.
Inorganic arsenic in rice varies by type and product. FDA found that brown rice had 160 parts per billion of inorganic arsenic per serving, infant rice cereal 120 and rice wine 11.
“All of the data suggest levels that are not high enough to give us cause for concern for immediate or near-term effects,” FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg told USA Today.
The next steps are “to look at exposure levels, to analyze the risk, and determine how to minimize that risk for the overall safety of consumers, including vulnerable groups like children and pregnant women,” Suzanne C. Fitzpatrick, senior adviser for toxicology at the FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, told CBS News.
These 1,100 new samples are in addition to the approximately 200 samples of rice and rice products that the agency initially tested and released the findings on in September 2012, FDA said.
Urvashi Rangan
“We commend the Food and Drug Administration for releasing arsenic data on more than 1300 samples of rice and rice products,” said Urvashi Rangan, director of consumer safety and sustainability at Consumer Reports, the Consumer Union magazine.
“This data, similar to ours, underscores the importance of dealing with the long-term health effects of arsenic exposure in the food supply. We share the agency’s recommendation that consumers should diversify the grains in their diets.”
The USA Rice Federation said the FDA had taken “an appropriate, science-based methodical approach” and that rice growers were encouraged by the agency’s approach.
Reece Langley
But Reece Langley of the federation also told The Hagstrom Report that after Consumers Union last year released its own data and called on people to change their diets, brown rice sales did go down.
Langley said USA Rice’s main concern at the moment is that Consumers Union will call on FDA to set a standard for arsenic in rice.
“We think that is getting too far out there at this point,” Langley said.
