Arsenic in rice

[Gardener]

Has anyone else read the Daily Mail article about naturally occurring arsenic in rice? I rely heavily on rice products because of IBS and have done for many years, so the dangers of it are worrying and it's difficult to know what to replace it with as it is also in many gluten free foods.

[cazadoo]

A billion chinese people it hasnt done them any harm... apples also contain arsenic a lot of foods have hidden baddies.SO RELAX xarry on doing what you need to do for your ibs . X

[Hidden]

I watched Dispatches on CH 4 and tbh the amount we eat there's no worries. It seemed to be aimed more at what amounts babies & young children might digest. If we all pandered to what the media tell us we wouldn't eat anything, go anywhere, do anything! Stressing over it will make your IBS worse? Chill.

[Hidden]

I would think that as rice is the staple diet of half the world it can't be that bad!

[Hidden]

The media love a good story so I'm not overly concerned about it. Although I think we should be sensible and eat everything in moderation. Thoroughly wash the rice before cooking and rinse with boiling water after cooking as this seems to reduce the amount of arsenic. I eat a lot of gluten free products too but only because I have a problem with fructans (fodmap). Have you tried spelt bread and flour as an alternative? The amount of fructans in gluten free products can still be quite high in fructans suprisingly.

channel4.com/programmes/dis...

fda.gov/Food/FoodborneIllne...

Also never leave cooked rice at room temperature as harmful bacteria grow.

Hope this helps!

[Junie2]

Oh well, I was thinking of getting rice milk ??

what milk do you all use in drinks and cooking, etc

I do not like the coconut milk much, and keep reading different reports on soya.

I am also a vegetarian, and I am struggling to find food other than soya or quorn,

Anyone know of a good vegetarian book, for low fodmap please

Junie

[Gardener]

Thank you all. Yes I agree the media do love to worry us, often before anything is proved, but I think they implied that it is a toxin and could cause illness in the general population.

However, I will bear your good advice in mind and try to cut down on the amount of rice I eat.

[hairyfairy]

I never saw the article, but I saw the tv programme. Fortunately I don`t eat much rice.

[686868]

Yes, I have seen and been concerned with what I saw on the TV programme the evening before yesterday.

I drink litres of Rice Dream (though hate when it won't shake smooth and is just grey water!) throughout the weeks and I use rice flour and choose rice products over maize (as maize products often leave me in IBS mode).

The programme I saw was not specific enough to come to any conclusions re necessary changes but it is good to know that there will be a law in place next year to enforce the arsenic standard 'allowance' as there is for water.

I have young grand children with allergies and I feel more concerned about their intake of arsenic as they have rice dream and rice cakes and rice and my son-in-law lives on rice products due to his allergies.

There's always something. The comment from someone else about using organic rice does not solve the problem in my opinion - indeed the brand organix for infants was cited in the programme I saw as being high in arsenic.