The UK’s Food Standards Agency has moved to calm fears that certain food products may contain unsafe levels of arsenic.
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Recently published research has suggested that the level of arsenic in rice milk and baby rice gives cause for concern.
According to the FSA, one study measured the levels of arsenic in rice milk and showed that exposure to arsenic would be increased with consumption. Another study, on baby rice, claimed that the levels of arsenic present in some baby rice samples were unsafe.
However, the FSA has dismissed these fears.
“We would disagree with the findings. Consumers don’t need to be concerned,” a spokesperson for the safety watchdog told just-food today (1 May).
The FSA said that its own research on arsenic in baby food and formulas showed that the levels of arsenic were “as low as reasonably practicable” and posed no risk to infant health.
Likewise, the FSA offered reassurance over rice milk, suggesting flaws in the study’s methodology.
“The studies compared the level of arsenic in these products with the arsenic limits that are put on tap water. The problem with this is that you won’t drink as much rice milk as tap water so the arsenic limits applicable for tap water are lower,” a spokesperson for the body commented.
The FSA told just-food that low levels of arsenic occur naturally in a wide range of foods. Toxicity is dependent upon the arsenic’s chemical form – the organic form is less harmful but the inorganic form is known to cause cancer.
“Arsenic occurs naturally in a wide range of foods. Where you have limits the industry needs to make efforts to lower levels,” the FSA said.
