Infants and young children up to the age of four-and-a-half should not consume rice milk as a substitute for cow’s milk, breast milk, or infant formula, the UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) has advised.
Background:Arsenic occurs in soil,
sea water, fresh water and in almost all plants and animal
tissues both as a result of geogenic but also anthropogenic origin. As a result, arsenic occurs at low levels in
many foods and it is nearly impossible to avoid it completely. How harmful
the arsenic is depends on the chemical form (speciation) in which it is present. The
organic forms are considered less harmful than the inorganic forms which can cause
cancer by harming our genetic material (DNA). Rice and rice products
have higher levels of inorganic arsenic compared with other
food.
The Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products
and the Environment (COT) (an independent scientific committee that
provides advice to the Food Standards Agency) has concluded that people
should consume as little of this form of arsenic as reasonably
practicable.
Current regulations
There are no EU-wide regulations for arsenic levels in food. In the
UK, there is a general limit of 1 mg/kg (milligram per kilogram) for
arsenic in food. Separate limits apply to certain food categories. For
instance, ready-to-drink non-alcoholic beverages have a limit of 0.1
mg/kg. The UK regulations were set in 1959 before it was known that inorganic arsenic can cause cancer.
Discussions have started in Europe to assess the risks to human
health from consuming arsenic in foodstuffs. The European Food Safety
Authority (EFSA) has been asked for its opinion on the risk to human
health associated with arsenic in food (see the EFSA call in EVISA's News section) and EFSA's risk assessment is
expected to be published in September 2009. Following this, it is
possible that EU-wide regulations will be set for arsenic levels in
food.
The new studies:
On May 21 the Agency has published results from two studies: arsenic levels
in rice drinks and one on cooking methods to reduce arsenic levels in
rice. The rice drink study followed concerns about results from a study
published last year that measured arsenic levels in these types of
drinks (see the EVISA News from March 15, 2008). The new study examined 60 samples of rice drinks
and found low levels of arsenic in all of them.
The level of total arsenic ranged from 0.010 - 0.034
milligram/kilogram and the levels of inorganic – the more harmful –
fraction of arsenic ranged from 0.005 - 0.020 milligram/kilogram. The
proportion of inorganic arsenic in the rice drink samples ranged from
48 - 63%. None of the results were over the current legal limit (but
see the Current regulations section above).
In the second study, researchers looked at the effect of cooking
methods on arsenic content of rice. The Agency is not advising anyone
to change the way they cook rice as a result of this study as the
impact on the overall dietary intake of arsenic from different cooking
methods is minimal. Anyhow, the greatest reduction of arsenic in rice of up to 45% was achieved by cooking rice in a large volume of water (6:1).
What the Agency advises:
As a precaution, toddlers and young
children between 1 and 4.5 years old should not have rice drinks as a
replacement for cows’ milk, breast milk, or infant formula. This is
because they will then drink a relatively large amount of it, and their
intake of arsenic will be greater than that of older children and
adults relative to their bodyweight. This is both on nutritional
grounds and because such substitution can increase their intake of
inorganic arsenic, which should be kept as low as possible. A daily
half pint or 280 millilitres of rice drink could double the amount of
the more harmful form of arsenic they consume each day.
There is no immediate risk to children who have been consuming rice
drinks and it is unlikely that there would have been any long-term
harmful effects but to reduce further exposure to arsenic parents
should stop giving these drinks to toddlers and young children.
If your child is allergic to cows’ milk, you are strongly advised to
seek advice from your health professional or dietitian on suitable
replacements.
Other groups of people do not need to change their diet because
their exposure to inorganic arsenic from rice drinks is lower relative
to their bodyweight.
Children under a year old should drink breast milk or infant formula
milk. Cows’ milk or alternatives are not suitable as a drink until an
infant is 12 months old.
The research results presented here do not affect the Agency’s advice on
any other weaning foods. Advice from a survey in 2007, which included
baby rice and other rice products, concluded that these foods did not
have levels of inorganic arsenic that caused concern.
The cited studies
Survey of total and inorganic arsenic in rice drinks
Levels of arsenic in rice: the effects of cooking
Related EVISA News
July 27, 2015: Researchers propose an improved cooking recipe to reduce worrying levels of arsenic in our rice February 10, 2015: Capabilities of EU labs to determine inorganic arsenic in food have improved November 14, 2013: Arsenic Speciation in Rice Cereals for Infants May 15, 2013: Arsenic species in rice: Origin, uptake and geographical variation February 15, 2013: JRC-IRMM has released ERM-BC211 certified rice reference material for arsenic speciation analysis September 21, 2012: Arsenic in Rice : First results from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration January 4, 2011: Arsenic species in rice: Call for analytical laboratories May 19, 2010: China: Inorganic Arsenic in Rice - An Underestimated Health Threat ? December 4, 2009: EFSA: Scientific Opinion on Arsenic in Food
January 31, 2009: Using the right recipe for cooking rice reduces toxic inorganic arsenic content
December 4, 2008: High level of inorganic arsenic in blue mussels from Norwegian Fjords
November 11, 2008: EFSA calls for data on arsenic levels in food and water
March 15, 2008: Arsenic in rice milk exceeds EU and US drinking water standards February 15, 2008:
Arsenic speciation in rice: a question of the rice plant species
January 31, 2008:
New arsenic species detected in carrot samples
March 7, 2007: Elevated Arsenic Levels Found In Rice Grown In South Central States of the USA
September 7, 2006: Toxic inorganic arsenic species found in Japanese seaweed food
August 3, 2005: Surprisingly high concentrations of toxic arsenic species found in U.S. rice
last time modified: May 21, 2024