Infant Rice Cereal (Inorganic Arsenic)

Single-grain rice cereal as a first food.

45Moderate burden · out of 100

Cleaner swapRotate in oat, barley and multigrain cereals

How this score is built

100Start
72.4Chemical hazard 6 × 4.6−27.6
55.4Everyday exposure 5 × 3.4−17
45Persistence 4 × 2.6−10.4
ModerateThe band45 sits in 40–59.

What each input rests on

The three ratings behind the score, and the studies each rests on
Input	Rating	Evidence
Chemical hazard	6/10	EFSA's contaminants panel found chronic dietary inorganic arsenic linked to cancers of the skin, bladder and lung, treated it as a genotoxic carcinogen, and judged that adult exposure margins (2 to 0.4 for average consumers) raise a health concern. Update of the risk assessment of inorganic arsenic in food · EFSA J 2024 DOI 10.2903/j.efsa.2024.8488 · PMID 38239496 · Abstract · read 2026-10-09
Everyday exposure	5/10	In a New Hampshire cohort of 759 infants, about 80% had rice cereal in their first year; at 12 months, infants who ate it had geometric mean urinary arsenic of 9.53 µg/L against 2.85 µg/L in those who ate no rice products. Association of Rice and Rice-Product Consumption With Arsenic Exposure Early in Life · JAMA Pediatr 2016 DOI 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2016.0120 · PMID 27111102 · Abstract, Results · read 2026-10-09
Persistence	4/10	unsourced input

Ratings are editorial. A study listed here supports the rating; it did not compute it. How the index is built

What this means for you

The chemical-hazard rating is what drives the score down. Rice takes up more inorganic arsenic from soil and water than other grains, and regulators set a specific action level for infant rice cereal because infants eat a large amount relative to body weight. Varying the grain is the straightforward move.

Evidence strength: strong

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All 50 food entries, highest burden first →