While the report does list the names of the 105 brands tested, that’s not what’s important
CNN translation: safe for all advertisers language. (Also 211 tests of different products, not just “brands”)
I buy Three Ladies Jasmine rice in bulk 50lbs bags from my local Asian store. It is good to report on the specific brands so people can be an informed consumer, rather than a blanket
The USA Rice Federation, which represents American growers, told CNN via email that rice grown in the United States contains the lowest levels of inorganic arsenic in the world …
The California-grown rice had the lowest overall heavy metal content — 65 parts per billion, with 55 parts per billion from arsenic — making it an excellent choice to reduce overall exposure, Houlihan said
“'Merican rice be better. Buy 'Merican” 
Here is the PDF LINK to the studies. it’s in Appendix A.
TL;DR
The levels detected are only considered dangerous to infants under 2 years of age for whom rice makes up a significant portion of their diet.
The dangers here are developmental factors, and cannot/will not affect adults or older children.
Thai Jasmine Rice, Calrose, and Indian Basmati are fine, and have tested below the dangerous levels even for those infants consuming large quantities of rice.
Brown rice and especially Instant Rice are the ones to avoid.
DangerousNormal levels of arsenic and cadmium found in samples of store-bought rice from more than 100 different brands purchased in the US.The highest levels described was 129 parts per billion. The FDA limit for 2-year old infants (for ‘rice cereal’) is 100ppb. The ‘purest’ rice in the study is 55 ppb.
There is no study to suggest 129 ppb of Arsenic is dangerous. The headline just baselessly asserts this. The methodology for ‘arsenic exposure’ also doesn’t account for what they mention - that the majority of arsenic in rice actually leaches into the water, which many people throw away. Even people eating the ‘worst’ US rice are getting more arsenic from fruit and vegetables.
- Is reducing heavy metal ingestion good and ideal? Yes.
- Is it also incredibly normal and natural for trace heavy metals to be in food? Yes.
- And is it true that ALL the studied rice were significantly under “dangerous” levels? Yeah.
Lying headline. Rice is fine. These shitty headlines hurt people more (by instilling anxiety while also turning them away from healthy options like rice) than they help.
PPB you say?
One hundred and twenty nine of them.
No amount of heavy metal exposure is healthy and this is just one of the many ways people are exposed to it. Limiting potential exposure, especially in children under two, is pretty serious. Rice is the largest single exposure food of any food type, and for communities that eat rice for multiple meals a day, rice accounts for up to 50% of their children’s exposure to arsenic, not to mention other heavy metals. If switching to a different grain is all it takes to greatly reduce that number, it seems pretty silly to hand wave the research.
In a world where exposure to heavy metals, PFAS, microplastics, formaldehyde and other dangerous substances is both a daily occurrence and being monitored less rigorously by the state organizations designed to keep exposure low, it’s definitely good to be aware that staple foods which billions rely on every day can be settings kids up for a lifetime of adverse health outcomes. Edit: also want to add that consistently getting covid fucks your immune system too so adding all the virus and sickness we are collectively dealing with to carcinogens and heavy metal exposure… It’s just good to limit what you can when you can
Edit: also, who throws away rice water? You steam the rice in the water which is absorbed by the rice. The article suggests cooking rice like pasta and tossing the water to reduce arsenic but to suggest most people already do this is absolutely false
I do not disagree with literally anything you’ve said here, so I’m not sure why you’re presenting it as such.
Nor am I 'hand wave’ing the research, I’m reading it and seeing what it actually says, like you also have. What the cited research definitively does not claim (or even imply) is “Dangerously high levels of arsenic and cadmium found in samples of store-bought rice from more than 100 different brands purchased in the US.”.
Don’t people rinse rice before cooking it? I believe that is the rice water that is thrown away, not after cooking.
But also that rinsing water is often used in many parts of the world as a baby formula substitute. So, that’s not great if that’s where most of the heavy metals are going.
Rinsing before cooking does not reduce arsenic amounts. If you soak it over night and dump that it will help, especially if agitated during the soaking, but the research cited in this article explicitly says rinsing without at least a 30 min soak doesn’t do it. The best method is to cook one cup of rice : 6-10 cups of water and then draining that water, adding fresh water and finishing the cooking
Thanks for the clarification, I did not see that part.
👏 Wash 👏 your 👏 rice 👏
Washing rice does not actually significantly remove contaminants
It mostly removes extra starch, so you should still do it lol
So what AM I allowed to eat jfc
“Leave us alone. If you don’t like it, you start a farm and gr…uhh…ascend to godhood and start your OWN planet!”
🎵 All the food is poison🎵
🎵 All the food is poison🎵
Fuck you rats, eat me and you’ll fuckin’ die!
Fuck, I’ve been relying on risotto for my lunches all week.
You’re fine. The headline is wrong.
I sure hope so lol, do you have a source?
Literally the article text itself. Or if you’re short on time and can’t read it, I read it for you! Here’s a summary.
