Rice cereal is the most commonly consumed infant instant cereal in the U.S. You may have heard that the amount of inorganic arsenic (heavy metal) is higher in your baby rice cereal than that in oatmeal or barley cereal. Inorganic arsenic can cause cancer and reduce children’s IQ.
Maybe you’re afraid it is still safe to feed your baby with rice cereal as their first solid food? Yes, it is safe with the FDA’s limit below 100 ppb.
Let’s see more details.
- Why is Arsenic in Rice Cereal?
- Why the Amount of Arsenic in Rice Cereal is Higher Than in Other Cereals?
- Where the Rice Growed Have Less Inorganic Arsenic?
- Why Arsenic in Brown Rice is Higher Than White Rice?
- Is Organic Baby Rice Cereal Arsenic Free?
- What’re the Health Risks of Arsenic?
- 2017 HBBF Arsenic Report in Baby Cereals
- What’s the FDA Limit of Arsenic in Rice Cereal?
- What are the Statement and Test Result of Arsenic from Rice Cereal manufacturers?
- How to possibly Avoid Arsenic in Your Baby Cereals?
- Takeaway
Why is Arsenic in Rice Cereal?
Arsenic exists in the earth’s crust, soil, groundwater and air (6). Almost all plants absorb arsenic like they absorb nutrients from the soil. Baby rice cereals are made from rice, so they naturally contain arsenic.
Therefore, arsenic is not an additive and cannot be completely removed from cereal. Limited by production technology and material selection, it may lead to exceeding the standard.
The inorganic arsenic content in rice varies depending on the type of rice and the place it was grown on.
Why the Amount of Arsenic in Rice Cereal is Higher Than in Other Cereals?
According to FDA, rice is more capable of absorbing arsenic from soil and water than other cereal crops (e.g. wheat and barley) (7). Also, arsenic concentrates about 10 times more in rice than other grains (8).
Meanwhile, irrigation with arsenic-contaminated groundwater or surface water can also contribute to higher arsenic content in rice.
In addition, rice is usually grown under flooded conditions, which increases the potential for arsenic intake.
Where the Rice Growed Have Less Inorganic Arsenic?
After testing 223 samples of various rice products in 2012, Consumer Reports tested 128 samples of basmati, jasmine, and sushi rice for arsenic, and analyzed the FDA data for a total of 697 samples of rice.
Meanwhile, Consumer Reports looked at the inorganic arsenic levels in 114 samples of nonrice grains and with the following conclusion (9):
1. On average, white basmati rice from California, India, and Pakistan, and sushi rice from the U.S. has half of the inorganic-arsenic amount than most other types of rice.
2. The label indicated the rice (except sushi and quick cooking) from Arkansas, Louisiana, or Texas or just from the U.S. had the highest levels of inorganic arsenic.
Why Arsenic in Brown Rice is Higher Than White Rice?
According to the above Consumer Reports, brown rice has 80% more inorganic arsenic on average than white rice of the same type as arsenic is more likely to accumulate in the rice bran (outer layer), which is removed in the process of producing white rice.
Brown rice can be considered a whole grain, which is minimally processed and contains the germ and the bran. While white rice is considered as a refined grain, which is only the endosperm.
Is Organic Baby Rice Cereal Arsenic Free?
Rice that’s grown organically absorbs arsenic like conventional rice, so organic rice cereal also has arsenic although the bring of arsenic from pesticide residues is avoided.
What’re the Health Risks of Arsenic?
There are two types of arsenic, one is inorganic arsenic and the other is organic arsenic. Between them, inorganic arsenic is more toxic, which is a carcinogen.
The known health risks of long-term exposure to arsenic exposure include cancer, skin lesions, cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
WHO also states that arsenic is associated with negative impacts on cognitive development and increased deaths in young adults in utero and early childhood exposure. (10).
2017 HBBF Arsenic Report in Baby Cereals
In 2017, a well noticed study from Healthy Babies Bright Futures (HBBF) found that arsenic in infant rice cereal was six times higher than in other types of infant cereal (oatmeal and multi-grain) (11).
Meanwhile, HBBF found, on average, non-rice and multi-grain (oatmeal, corn, barley, quinoa, and others) contain 84 percent less arsenic than leading brands of infant rice cereal.
We can conclude from the data above that, on average, the arsenic content comparison in different cereals:
Brown rice>Rice>Multi-Grain>Wheat>Oatmeal>Quinoa>Barley>Buckwheat
Brown rice has the highest arsenic, while buckwheat with the lowest.
HBBF study tested 105 infant cereals from 9 brands:
105 Cereals source
Oats, corn, barley, quinoa, wheat, amaranth, millet, sorghum, flax, buckwheat, and rye.
9 Brands
Gerber, Earth’s Best, BeechNut, Nestlé, Little Duck Organics, Healthy Time, Happy Family Organics, Bio-Kinetics and Nurturme.
What’s the FDA Limit of Arsenic in Rice Cereal?
To reduce the possible risk for infants fed rice cereal, the FDA proposed a limit or “action level” of 100 ppb to limit inorganic arsenic in infant rice cereal in April 2016 (12).
In August 2020, the FDA issued final guidance of inorganic arsenic in infant rice cereal, with a maximum recommended amount, or “action level,” of 100 parts per billion (ppb) or 100 microgram per kilogram (µg/kg) (13).
This guidance applies to all types of infant rice cereals (e.g., white rice, brown rice, organically grown, and conventionally grown).
FDA considers this action level is achievable with the good manufacturing process based on sampling and testing results (14).
Results from sampling in 2018 show that 76% of samples were at or below the 100 ppb level, compared to 47% of samples tested in 2014 and 36% of samples tested between 2011-2013.
Source: https://www.fda.gov/food/cfsan-constituent-updates/fda-issues-final-guidance-industry-action-level-inorganic-arsenic-infant-rice-cereals
What are the Statement and Test Result of Arsenic from Rice Cereal manufacturers?
Gerber, Earth’s Best, Happy Family Organic and Beech-Nut are four main brands. Here’re their statements and test results (data from 2017-2019), published by the U.S. House of Representatives in February 2021.
Gerber
All of the rice ingredients (rice cereal organic brown rice cereal) used in Gerber products are sourced from rice grown in the United States. Therefore, earlier this year (2012), we decided to exclusively use California rice in all of our rice-containing dry infant cereal. We chose California rice because California has the lowest arsenic levels for rice grown in the United States. September 19, 2012
Source: http://news.gerber.com/in_the_news/gerber-safety-statement-238803
The Congressional reported:
“Gerber used five batches of rice flour that had 98 ppb inorganic arsenic, and 67 batches that contained more than 90 ppb.”
Earth’s best
Arsenic and other heavy metals (like lead and cadmium) are tested to verify that they are below our specification limits for heavy metals prior to use. We always strive for continuous improvement in our supply chain, therefore, we have lowered our specifications and improved our testing methods over the past few years. April 30, 2020
Source: https://www.earthsbest.com/resource/environmental-defense-fund-response
The Congressional pointed out:
Earth’s Best Organic typically only tested its ingredients, not finished products. It also showed that half of Earth’s Best Organic brown rice baby foods contained over 100 ppb inorganic arsenic; its average brown rice baby food contained 97.62 ppb inorganic arsenic.
Beechnut
Beech-Nut issued a voluntary recall for one lot of Beech-Nut Stage 1, Single Grain Rice Cereal in June 2021. This recall was caused due to the high inorganic arsenic level in samples (tested by the State of Alaska) than the FDA guidance level.
At the same time, Beech-Nut announced the exit of the branded Single Grain Rice Cereal. (15)
Now you cannot find rice cereal in its baby cereals products. https://www.beechnut.com/foods/?cereal
Happy Family Organic (Happy Baby)
Today, our products have significantly lower levels than highlighted in the report, well below the 100 ppb limit finalized by the FDA in 2020.
Source: https://www.happyfamilyorganics.com/quality-and-safety-of-our-products
How to possibly Avoid Arsenic in Your Baby Cereals?
1. Cooking to lower arsenic levels
If you make the rice cereal by yourself, 40-60% of the inorganic arsenic can be removed by cooking rice in excess water (from 6 to 10 parts water to 1 part rice), and draining the excess water. (16).
2. Vary Your baby’s Cereals and Not Rely Solely on Rice Cereal
Iron-fortified rice cereal shouldn’t be the only source or does not need to be the first source.
Parents can switch it to other fortified infant cereals including oatmeal, barley, multigrain and other non-rice cereals, which are healthier as lower arsenic contamination.
Multi-grain cereals, although contain rice, have far less arsenic than infant rice cereal, are alternatives for parents.
3. Choose White Rice Creal instead of Brown Rice Cereal
As shown above, you can understand that the arsenic content in brown rice cereal is higher than that in white rice cereal. So choose the latter one for your baby.
Takeaway
Arsenic is naturally present in rice cereal and its content is higher than other cereals. So when choosing cereals for your baby, it is recommended not only to rely on rice cereal, but to feed with other cereals (such as oatmeal, barley, multigrain) or combine rice cereal with them.
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