We have transformed over to a lot of rice because it is supposed to
be safe. Matthew Cody also eats each form of baby food with rice that
is on the market. I am sick after reading the following article. I
will now be on the hunt for the basmati rice now.

Please pass this on as many of us use a lot of rice and many even use
rice milk.








Dangerous levels of arsenic in rice

By Charles Clover, Environment Editor
Last Updated: 7:01pm BST 29/08/2007
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml;jsessionid=R...

A third of baby rice tested by the Food Standards Agency contains high
levels of arsenic, one of the worst cancer causing chemicals, a
leading
expert has said.

Most stringent standard for arsenic in rice is set by the Chinese

Prof Andrew Meharg of Aberdeen University, who is conducting a major
study
of arsenic in rice for the Food Standards Agency, said that around 10
per
cent of all rice on British shelves contained levels of arsenic that
the
Chinese would consider damaging to health.

The EU has no standard for arsenic in food and Britain's level was
set in
1959 before the cancer-causing effects of arsenic were understood.
Prof
Meharg says the most stringent standard is set by the Chinese, who
are big
eaters of rice.

Ironically, the most likely to be exposed to high arsenic levels, he
said,
were infants, buyers of macro-biotic healthfood, people who buy rice
milk
and the Bangladeshi community, who buy a lot of rice from their home
country where water naturally contaminated with arsenic are used to
irrigate crops.

Prof Meharg said that rice from some countries had arsenic levels five
times higher than others, so concerned consumers could easily reduce
their
intake.

Rice from the United States, France, Italy and Bangladesh had the
highest
levels of inorganic arsenic. About 30 per cent of American long grain
rice
samples tested contain levels above the Chinese standard.

The highest levels of arsenic in the world had just been found in
French
rice, he said. Rice from India and Egypt had the lowest levels, with
basmati rice some of the safest.

Prof Meharg said a recent Food Standards Agency study of baby rice had
found that out of 13 samples, four exceeded the Chinese standard of
0.15
parts per million.

Prof Meharg told a conference organised by the Royal Geographical
Society:
"The majority of babyfood has relatively high levels of arsenic - the
top
end of the range. This is potentially harmful because they have small
bodies and so it is a large proportion of rice - rice pudding, rice
crackers and powdered rice."

He said that brown rice, favoured by macro-biotic, healthfood fans,
had
even higher levels of arsenic. Bran from the United States used as a
food
supplement had levels approaching Britain's food standard of one part
per
million, set in 1959.

"That is incredibly high," he added.

People who have given up dairy products and taken up rice milk were
also
at risk, he said. Some rice milk contains arsenic at levels which
exceed
the standards set for drinking water of 10 parts per billion, however
since milk is classified as a food this was not regarded as harmful.

The Food Standards Agency says the level of arsenic found in rice is
not a
risk to health in Britain, where people eat relatively little rice,
and
simply advises people to eat a balanced diet. It measures risk
differently
to Prof Meharg, across total food consumption.

A spokesman described Prof Meharg's way of pointing out the risk of
rice
foodstuffs as "not particularly helpful."

Arsenic contamination of imported rice represents the tip of the
iceberg
of a global problem of arsenic in water supplies affecting more than
70
countries and 137 million people.

Bangladesh is the worst country affected where hundreds of thousands
of
people are likely to die from arsenic causing fatal cancers of the
lung,
bladder and skin.

Prof Allan Smith, an adviser to the World Health Organisation, said
arsenic posed health risks "exceeding every other potential water
contaminant."

One in ten people exposed long term to more than 500 micrograms of
arsenic
per litre would die of cancer.

Arsenic has been found in water in the North of England, the Midlands
and
mid-Wales but tests and treatment by water companies mean that public
supplies are safe to drink, according to experts.

Prof Smith advised people with private water supplies to ensure that
they
were tested.



HUGS!
Tammy Lynne