White Rice (Arsenic)

Rice, especially for daily eaters and infants.

58Moderate burden · out of 100

Cleaner swapRinse well, cook in excess water; vary grains

How this score is built

What each input rests on

The three ratings behind the score, and the studies each rests on
Input	Rating	Evidence
Chemical hazard	4/10	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	4/10	Parboiling rice in fresh water and then cooking it by absorption removed 73% of the inorganic arsenic from white rice and 54% from brown rice. Improved rice cooking approach to maximise arsenic removal while preserving nutrient elements · Sci Total Environ 2021 DOI 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.143341 · PMID 33153748 · Abstract · 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

Rice takes up inorganic arsenic from soil and water. Rinsing and cooking in a high water-to-rice ratio removes a meaningful share.

Evidence strength: moderate

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