Baby rice warning: study finds high levels of carcinogenic arsenic

A third of baby food rice on sale in the UK tested by scientists has been found to contain so much inorganic arsenic, a human carcinogen, that it would be illegal in some countries.

A child eating three servings a day of the rice with the highest levels would have up to six times the maximum safe level of inorganic arsenic under EU water regulations, according to the researchers from Aberdeen University. The study also found high levels of inorganic arsenic in other rice foods fed to babies, including puffed rice cereals, pasta, noodles, and puddings.

"It is of considerable concern that food arsenic levels are not regulated in the EU," said Professor Andrew Meharg, who led the study. "Thirty-five per cent of the baby food we analysed had levels of inorganic arsenic that would make them illegal in China.''

Because of the lack of EU rules, old food standards are invoked in the UK. These were set in 1959, before it was accepted that arsenic was a human carcinogen.

Pre-cooked rice is widely used for weaning babies because of its blandness, low allergen levels and nutritional value. But rice is also good at taking up arsenic from soil. In the study, reported this week in the journal Environmental Pollution, only pure baby rice samples from national supermarket chains were analysed.