Arsenic in baby rice puts children at risk

In what will be of great concern to many parents, scientists who have carried out a survey of arsenic levels in three common brands of rice-based baby foods say they have found that arsenic levels in the foods are too high.

According to the scientists the arsenic levels in the 17 samples tested are high enough to put children eating them at risk of a range of cancers.

The scientists from the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, have calculated that a baby eating the food with the highest arsenic content would receive around six times the maximum arsenic dose allowable under regulations governing arsenic in water.

Even though the Food Standards Agency (FSA) say that there is no danger to infants, the scientists are calling for regulations to be updated as current limits on arsenic in food are outdated.

They also say the regulations do not take into account recent research which has linked chronic exposure to the element can contribute to lung and bladder cancer.

The researchers say most rice in UK baby foods comes from Europe but a better source would be low-arsenic regions, such as parts of the Indian subcontinent, California or from Cádiz and Seville in Spain.

The FSA says baby foods, including baby rice, must comply with the same legislation setting out the controls for contaminants as other foods and takes into account the specific needs of infants and young children.

The FSA has apparently conducted a number of surveys of contaminants in baby foods and say research suggests that the low levels of arsenic in weaning products are not a cause for concern.

Professor Andrew Meharg who led the study, says it is only in the last three or four years that it has been widely known that rice is a dominant source of inorganic arsenic to the diet, but it is a carcinogen, and caution must be exercised.

Professor Meharg says other countries have set standards for arsenic contamination at far lower cut-off levels and some of the products would be illegal in such countries.

Professor Meharg says comparing what a baby is getting, with what is legally allowed under the water regulations, confuses the issue.

The arsenic tested for was inorganic and most likely came from a geological source; it occurs naturally in some soils and is a groundwater problem in a number of countries, such as Bangladesh.

Ten of the 17 samples tested by the scientists were organically grown, meaning that no agricultural chemicals were used by the farmers.

As rice plants grow immersed in water they are therefore especially susceptible to absorbing arsenic.

The authors say parents who are concerned should consider switching to oat, barley, maize and wheat and other grain crops as a carbohydrate substitute.

The research appears in the journal Environmental Pollution.