Arsenic and Old Rice (Lace): Not Just Past Cotton Farming...

[PJ]

Hi Everyone,

I have been following this story too ( especially since I de-glutenized my kitchen and purchased many rice products).

Here is another interesting article which discusses the current practice of using chicken manure (also referred to as "chicken feed") for fertilizer on rice farms and why this practice can produce harmful inorganic arsenic from an organic form.

The article also mentions Lundberg Farms...

[Now, unfortunately, chicken litter from large industrial operations is also commonly used as fertilizer on organic farms—which may explain why several organic products, like Lundberg brand short-grain organic brown rice (which I have in my pantry, via the bulk section of my local food co-op), appeared on CR's list with relatively high levels of arsenic. To its credit, however, Lundberg Family Farms, a major California producer of organic rice, is taking the issue seriously—it is "testing more than 200 samples of the many varieties of rice in its supply chain and plans to share the results with FDA scientists," CR reports.]

Here is the article in its entirety:

http://www.motherjones.com/tom-philpott ... ic-my-rice

Best,

Pam

[Zizzle]

WOW. Thanks for sharing. I have the same Lundberg rice in my pantry too. Luckily I rarely make it! I'm just not that into rice. More squash for me!