Dive Summary:
- Following testing on more than 1,300 rice and rice product samples, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced on Friday that it's tests have show arsenic levels were not high enough to pose an immediate health risk, though the FDA will proceed with a comprehensive risk assessment to look at long-term risks.
- Consumer Reports pushed for testing in 2012 after products such as Kellogg's Rice Krispies and Gerber infant cereal were found to contain inorganic arsenic.
- Average arsenic levels were found to be 2.6 to 7.2 micrograms per serving in rice grains and 0.1 to 6.6 micrograms per serving in rice products.
From the article:
... Some companies source their rice from different locations, which may result in samples from the same brand having different levels of arsenic over time, the agency said. It will conduct a risk assessment to consider how much arsenic is consumed from rice products and whether there are variations in health effects for certain segments of the population. ...