The Rice Crop
Rice is an ubiquitous and gluten-free starchy grass that is a staple food and also used in many food products. It is the #1 food crop, consumed by over 3.5B people in the world (1), followed by #2 wheat, and #3 corn or maize (2).
Current science shows that the use of rice was occuring ~10k ago based on the analysis of stone tools from southern China, showing evidence of rice harvesting.
There are over 40k rice variations in the world (3). From my own experience cooking and exploring rice, there may be many more variations than we have catalogued. For example, the International Rice Gene Bank has over 90,000 cultivated and wild samples (4).
Allergies to rice are rare (5) so that rice is a caloric food that can be eaten by nearly everyone. In Asia (China, Japan, and Korea for example) up to 10% of people can be allergic to rice (6), but the percentage is dramatically less in Europe and North America.
Grain
Visually, rice comes in short, medium and long grains.
- Long: Indian basmati, American-grown Carolina Gold, and Thai’s jasmine rice are all relatively low in starch and are good for cooking pilaf, biryani, mujadara, and tachin.
- Medium: Calrose and arborio rice are good examples of of medium grained rice. This grain of rice is regularly used “table rice” in China, Korea, and Japan.
- Short: Japanese short-grain, Japanese sushi, Spanish bomba, Chinese black rice, and short-grain glutinous rice are high in starch and good for sushi, paella, rice pudding, dessert.
Additionally, there is something called Wild Rice, but this is not rice, really it is a seed. The type I buy is a seed from a marshy grass native to the Great Lakes. What is so great about this “rice” is that it is a nutritional powerhouse with 14% protein and contains antioxidants.
Texture
The texture of rice can be starchy, creamy, sticky or chewy.
- Starchy rice can be slightly sticky or you can mouth-feel individual grains.
- Creamy leaves a feeling in the mouth that is luxurious but not sticky.
- Sticky rice has lots of starch and is often used for rice flour. When cooked and eaten, it leaves a starchiness in the mouth.
- Parboiled rice has gone through a steam-pressure process before milling that gelatinizes the starch in the grain so it leaves a sticky, chewy, starchy texture.
Color
Rice comes in a variety of natural color. Keep in mind some vendors artificially color rice by adding ingredients to give a green or other color hue to rice.
- Polished white (the bran and germ have been removed from brown rice)
- Brown
- Red
- Dark purple or black (forbidden rice)
- Dark brown to black (wild rice)
Aromas
There are a dozen or so different rice aromas (6), but my experience is limited to the two most prevalent ones:
- Jasmine (subtle jasmine aroma, grown in Thailand)
- Basmati (often described as nutty, grown in India)
Here is a hint to coax out more flavor, either cook the rice with pandan leaves, or toast the rice a bit before cooking.
Rice Concerns
Rice + Arsenic
Arsenic is found in multiple sources, but high levels are found in contaminated drinking water, seafood, and rice or rice-based foods (6). People who consume lots of arsenic are at risk for arsenic poisoning. The consumption of arsenic is especially a concern for babies and young children who may consume lots of rice-based formulas, rice containing crackers, and other products. So what do I know about rice and arsenic?
Rice is very good at absorbing arsenic from the soil, it is the single biggest food source of inorganic arsenic, which is the more toxic form (7) of arsenic. Brown rice, being the less processed food, has 80 percent more inorganic arsenic on average than white rice of the same type (8).
- WHO: Long-term exposure to arsenic from drinking-water and food can cause cancer and skin lesions. It has also been associated with cardiovascular disease and diabetes. In utero and early childhood exposure has been linked to negative impacts on cognitive development and increased deaths in young adults.
- ConsumerReports: US rice in general and from Arkansas, Louisiana, or Texas in particular have the highest levels of inorganic arsenic.
- ConsumerReports: White basmati rice from California, India, and Pakistan, and sushi rice from the U.S. on average has half of the inorganic-arsenic amount of most other types of rice (I bolded the text).
Here are foods that contain rice:
- Rice noodles, gluten free pasta, rice flour
- Rice cream, rice milk, brown rice syrup
- Sake, rice vinegar
- Rice bran and breakfast cereal or cereal bars (for adults and babies)
- Rice crackers, rice pudding
- Drinking water
- And prepared foods may have hidden amounts of these items in them (cake and muffin mixes, brownie mixes, pizza and pie crusts, snack bars, and cookies).
Consumer Reports Suggestions
In 2015 ConsumerReports came up with a chart of points and wrote adults should consume no more than 7 points per week in arsenic laden foods. Below is a sample of their point scale:
Item-Size-Points
Rice Cereal: 1/4C uncooked – 3.5 points
Rice Drinks: 1C – 2.25 points
White Basmati/Sushi rice: 1/4C uncooked – 1.5 points
All other rice: 1/4C uncooked – 3.5 points
Rice pasta: 2oz uncooked – 3 points
Rice Cakes: 1-3 cakes – 2.5 points
Rice pudding: 1/3C – 3-4 points
Why Me Worry?
A friend and I were discussing this post, when she asked me why she should worry. She stated that rice was not a major carb in her or the typical American diet. I argued she was missing the point, first we eat more rice than she thinks, and it is not just how much rice we directly consume, but also how much rice products and arsenic from other sources we consume as well.
- CrossCurrents: (2003) On average, Americans eat 26 pounds (12kg) of rice annually while Asians consume 300 pounds (136kg). Hawaii has the highest rice consumption per person in the U.S. at an average of 100 pounds (45kg) per year. (I am assuming what is listed here is uncooked rice).
As it turns out, while Consumer Reports states we should consume <7 points of rice per week, my calculations has an average (non-Hawaii) American eating between 9.27 (if only white rice is consumed and counted) and 21.64 points (if brown rice is consumed) per week on rice alone.
What to do?
Pick the rice carefully so you are buying reduced arsenic rice to begin with.
- I tend to buy Lundberg Family Farms rice as they review and post arsenic levels in their rice and are working hard to remove it from their foods.
- I tend to use aromatic rice like long-grained white Jasmine and Basmati, which are lower in arsenic, for everyday rice. (9)
- Buying organic rice is not a solution, for the food may be organic but arsenic is persistent and throughout the soil from previous farming practices
I use organic, white Basmati, Jasmine, or Sushi rice from California or India. I also wash, rinse, and soak rice carefully to remove additional residual arsenic, and then cook on a stovetop. I also limit serving sizes (I use 2/3C or 1/2C cooked as a serving size) and monitor the number of servings of rice products per week. I also pay attention to rice in the products we consume and pay special attention to babies and infants consumption of rice.
Rice + Aluminum
While aluminum as a product has been around since 1910, it has recently been identified as a neurotoxin associated with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia; although there is no proven and definite link between our cooking pans or foil and Alzheimers. However, autopsies show that people with Alzheimer’s disease have accumulated aluminum in their brains (8). Does cooking rice in aluminum rice cookers increase harm?
Here is what current thinking and research state.
- International Journal of Electrochemical Science: (2012) The [scientific study] results clearly indicate that the use of aluminum foil for cooking contributes significantly to the daily intake of aluminum through the cooked foods. The amount of leaching was found to be high in acidic solutions, and even higher with the addition of spices.
- In 2015 WHO announced an aluminum tolerable daily intake of 40mg per kilogram of body weight per day. A 150# adult would be 68.04kg, which means 2,721.6mg/day is acceptable.
- (2016) Ghada Bassioni’s research found aluminium from foil, and leaching aluminium from pots/pans/utensils migrates into food (during the cooking process) above WHO permissible levels
- TheConversation: (2016) Aluminium is present in corn, yellow cheese, salt, herbs, spices and tea. It’s used in cooking utensils … as well as in pharmacological agents like antacids and antiperspirants. Aluminium sulfate, which is derived from aluminium, is used as a coagulant during the purification process of drinking water.
- (2016) NIH Environmental Risks for Dementia: There is at least moderate evidence implicating the following risk factors: air pollution; aluminium; silicon; selenium; pesticides; vitamin D deficiency; and electric and magnetic fields. (I did the bolding here.)
- HealthLine: (2017) Articles seem to indicate aluminum is ingested through food, water and medication…Aluminum exposure can be reduced by decreasing your intake of highly processed foods and reducing your use of aluminum foil and aluminum cooking utensils.
Here is what we do know, broken out by cooking factoids.
- During cooking, aluminum dissolves most easily from worn or pitted pots and pans.
- Leafy vegetables and acidic foods, such as tomatoes and citrus products, absorb the most aluminum and can cause pitting in aluminum pans.
- The longer food is cooked or stored in aluminum, the greater the amount that gets into food.
- Rice is often cooked in aluminum-based rice cookers and thus leeches aluminum into the rice
- Healthy people can usually express accumulated aluminum, if consumed at lower levels. But high levels of aluminum are harder to express and are considered toxic and can damage the nervous system, kidneys and bones.
What To Do?
I first stopped wrapping food in just foil, I now only use parchment paper, and use parchment paper to line baking sheets. Or I might wrap the food in parchment and then use foil to wrap the bundle tightly.
Second, I stopped cooking rice in aluminum rice cookers and instead use cast iron, ceramic, or steel pots.
Things I have not done, but are suggested in the literature is to, find out how contaminated (or not) your local water is and if it is bad consider getting a filter specific to arsenic and aluminum removal.
Some studies list diet changes to help (9): drinking green tea, consuming curcumin (in turmeric), and consuming vitamins C and E, and the mineral selenium; each of these seem to help to reduce the toxic effects of aluminum in studies.
Rice and Plastic
Recently microplastics have become a concern with foods, such as rice. Science has documented that rinsing or the washing process reduces up to 20% of the plastics in uncooked rice. This study found that irrespective of the packaging (plastic or paper bags) you buy rice in, it contains the same level of microplastics. The researchers also showed plastics in (pre-cooked) instant rice have been found to be fourfold higher than in uncooked rice. If you pre-rinse instant rice, you could reduce plastics by 40%.
If Dangerous, Why Eat Rice?
I like the taste and texture of rice, and have a tradition (from my years living in Japan) of eating rice, so it is a comfy food. On average my family eats rice or its products at least 2 to 3 times a week primarily in grain, noodle, cracker, flour or vinegar form. I tend to eat mainly white rice, but not brown; and rinse and soak my rice well.
As stated above, I do not cook rice in aluminum pots, preferring cast iron, steel or ceramic. I take all the precautions I can to limit exposure to aluminum and arsenic. But all things in moderation is my motto with food. Rice is not my main staple and I mix up my carbs weekly.
What do you do?
–Patty