Arsenic in Rice
Reports of
arsenic in rice have alarmed consumers to the point that some are now not
eating rice. Unfortunately, rice is a
great long-term storage item. It is the one food that is a staple world-wide. The
more nutritious brown rice has even more arsenic because much of the
concentration is found just under the husk which is not burnished off.
I discovered
par-boiled brown rice has almost the same “keeping” quality of regular white
rice so it seemed a good choice for prepping. The par-boiling process cuts the
necessary cooking time so it conserves fuel which could be an issue in
emergencies.
I have not
researched this issue completely, but what I did find published by The US Rice
Commission at http://www.arsenicfacts.usarice.com
provided a clearer picture of the situation. Frankly, the information was WAY
over my head. It did help me understand why I had a problem with the “hype”
about arsenic and rice. I figured that if arsenic was naturally occurring in
soils and water, why aren’t ALL foods affected? Well, they are. The statistics
on them have just not yet been widely publicized. People who are gluten
intolerant consume much larger quantities of rice than others so this is an
issue of concern. They may need to consider greatly increasing their selections
of grains. However, those grains haven’t been scrutinized so carefully yet so
they, too, could have high concentrations of arsenic.
The Rice
Commission reports that no arsenic is used in fertilizers designed for rice
growers. One of the ways arsenic gets in rice is through the absorption of the
water used to flood the fields. Arsenic is naturally occurring in water but the
concentrates rise due to run-off of fertilizers and chemicals we use in
agriculture, industrial and home use. STILL, the EPA declares the levels are
safe for human consumption. This is true for water and rice – white or brown. Arsenic levels are within acceptable ranges for every sample tested -- and they tested every variety of rice from every state and from each distribution center. Rice purchased from overseas was also tested. The variables seem to come from water sources in which the rice was grown.
It has been
reported that about 30% of the arsenic in rice can be removed by rinsing it
before cooking. Another way to lessen the amount of arsenic in rice is to cook
it the way Asian people do rather than our American method of 1 cup of rice to
2 of water in which all the liquid is absorbed by the grains of rice. Asians
use about 6 cups of water to 1 cup of rice and drain it prior to eating. This
of course isn’t a great option if water shortages occur in emergencies.
So, what am
I going to do? I am going to trust God’s faithfulness to His Word. Deuteronomy
28:1-14 clearly outlines the blessings that come with covenant with Almighty
God. Jesus’ blood ratified that covenant for me so I could enjoy the benefits
of being a child of God. My basket (of provision) is blessed. The bread that I
knead is blessed. My storehouse is blessed and He insures that I have plenty of
goods. He blesses the increase of my livestock and the produce of the ground.
He opens His good treasures of heaven and gives rain in its proper season.
Everything I put my hand to prospers. In addition, none of the diseases of
Egypt (the world) will come on me. Mark 16:18 promises that if I drink anything
poison or deadly, it will not harm me. I think I am covered.
I am going
to rinse my rice and cook it in chicken broth as I’ve done for years and bless
my food before I eat it. I am going to
continue to store rice and use it to feed those who neglected to be prudent and
provide for themselves.
I suggest
you do the research for yourselves – just Google Arsenic in Rice for information. My major concern with various
publications is most seem to quote and reference the same primary source. I
tend to lose confidence in single source conclusions. To our dismay, we have
discovered that much of the “hype” concerning health risks from products
originated from a competing industry and everybody got on a bandwagon headed in
a wrong direction. Unfortunately correction only came years later after people
had altered eating habits.
Let me know what
you think.
