Arsenic in Baby Rice Cereals Too High
In 2016, the FDA finished an analysis of evidence that linked relatively high levels of inorganic arsenic (classified by the EPA as a carcinogen) during pregnancy with adverse pregnancy outcomes. They also found that exposure to arsenic could result in a child’s decreased performance on learning and cognitive tests. Because of these findings, they are now taking steps to reduce the amount of inorganic arsenic (which is the more toxic form) allowed in infant rice cereal.
While traces of arsenic are present in many foods, including grains, fruits and vegetables, rice absorbs it more easily and relative to their size, infants consume about three times the amount of rice that adults do; most 8 month olds eat rice as the centerpiece of their diet.
Released last Friday, the FDA proposed an action level, or limit, of 100 parts per billion (ppb) for inorganic arsenic in infant rice cereal. After testing 76 types of infant rice cereal from retail stores it was found that nearly half already meet the proposed limit of 100 parts per billion of inorganic arsenic and more than three-quarters of the samples had levels at or below 110 parts per billion.
But executive director of Consumers Reports Food Safety & Sustainability Center, Urvashi Rangan, Ph.D., is concerned that they didn’t go far enough as this new recommendation is close to what they suggested more than three years ago. He stated in the article on Today, “…we remain concerned that so many other rice-based products consumed by children and adults remain without any standards at all. This is particularly true of children’s ready-to-eat cereals.”
Source: Today
