ABC22 - Burlington and Plattsburgh News, Weather and Sports - ABC22.comStudy: Arsenic Found in Some Organic Cereal Bars & Baby Formula

Hanover, New Hampshire- Dartmouth College researchers say an ingredient used in many organic foods, including baby formula, may be a hidden source of arsenic.

The study published Thursday in Environmental Health Perspectives says organic brown rice syrup is that underlying ingredient.

The study found the following:

• Two of 17 infant formulas tested listed organic brown rice syrup as the primary ingredient. One had a total arsenic concentration that was six times the federal limit of 10 parts per billion (ppb) for total arsenic in bottled or public drinking water. This is particularly worrisome for babies because they are especially vulnerable to arsenic's toxic effects due to their small size and the corresponding arsenic consumption per pound of body weight.
• Twenty-two of 29 cereal bars or energy bars tested listed at least one of these four rice products-organic brown rice syrup, rice flour, rice grain or rice flakes - among the top five ingredients. The seven other bars were among the lowest in total arsenic, ranging from 8 to 27 ppb, while those containing syrup or other forms of rice ranged from 23 to 128 ppb.
• Tests of high-energy products known as "energy shots" that are used by endurance athletes and others showed that one of the three gel-like blocks contained 84 ppb of total arsenic, while the other two contained 171 ppb.

The lead author of the study says the amount of arsenic in food needs to be regulated.

"In the absence of regulations for levels of arsenic in food, I would certainly advise parents who are concerned about their children's exposure to arsenic not to feed them formula where brown rice syrup is the main ingredient," says Brian Jackson, Ph.D.

Jackson says brown rice syrup is likely to have higher arsenic concentrations than other sweeteners whether the rice is grown organically or not.

"That's because the rice takes up natural arsenic from the soil and when the rice is used to make brown rice syrup, much of that arsenic ends up there," he said. "We focused on organic brown rice syrup because this seems to be a sweetener of choice for some organic food products."  

Jackson offered the following advice:

• Individuals who consume a lot of rice, including those on gluten-free diets, should try to add variety to their diets and check ingredient labels, as many gluten-free foods are rice-based.
• As the new research showed, parents can reduce young children's dietary arsenic exposure by limiting their consumption of formula in which organic brown rice syrup is a main ingredient.
• Another study by Dartmouth researchers published online in January 2012 found that total arsenic in some rice-fortified baby foods, such as jars containing meat-rice combinations, as well as fruit and vegetable purees for babies, ranged from less than 1 ppb up to 22 ppb, the majority of which was the carcinogenic form.
• Eating an occasional cereal bar does not pose much risk, but the latest study's results add to the increasing recognition that food is a significant, or in many cases, the main arsenic exposure route for people. Therefore it's wise to limit daily consumption of foods known to contain arsenic, keeping in mind that even seemingly small exposures from juices, rice or rice-fortified foods add up.

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