A new study by Dartmouth researchers in the journal, “Environmental Health Perspectives” said some breakfast bars contained 15 times the amount of arsenic compared to bars without any rice product.
Jim Morris with the California Rice Commission said the Federal Food and Drug Administration should provide guidelines for arsenic content. Morris said, “Help our farmers, our mills, and consumers understand the importance of arsenic in rice and rice products. We want the expertise from the F.D.A., a science-based understanding of healthy food and this naturally-occurring element.”
All rice starts out as brown rice. The level of arsenic drops when the husk is removed and the rice becomes white. The FDA said it launched a study of arsenic in rice and rice products this past October and hopes to have the results sometime this spring.
