HBBF 2025 — Total and inorganic arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury in 145 US retail rice samples and 66 alternative grain samples
Healthy Babies Bright Futures commissioned Brooks Applied Labs to test 211 containers of rice and alternative grains purchased from retailers in 20 US metro areas during 2024-2025, measuring total arsenic, inorganic arsenic, cadmium, lead, and total mercury. Inorganic arsenic was detected in 100% of 145 rice samples, with more than one in four (>25%) exceeding the FDA action level of 100 ppb iAs for infant rice cereal. Brown rice grown in the Southeastern US and arborio risotto rice from Italy showed the highest average total heavy metal burdens (151 ppb and 142 ppb respectively); California-grown rice averaged 65 ppb total heavy metals, the lowest of the rice categories tested. Alternative grains averaged 33 ppb total heavy metals versus 108 ppb for rice, a roughly 69% reduction.
Key numbers
- Sample design: 211 total grain containers from 20 metro areas; 145 rice samples across 105 brands; 66 alternative-grain samples spanning amaranth, barley, buckwheat, bulgur, couscous, farro, millet, quinoa, and spelt (p. 5, p. 29).
- Inorganic arsenic detection: 100% of 145 rice samples had detectable iAs; >25% (more than one in four) exceeded the FDA 100 ppb iAs action level for infant rice cereal (p. 1, Executive Summary).
- Average total heavy metal levels by rice category (sum of iAs + Cd + Pb + tHg, ppb): California rice (sushi, Calrose) 65 ppb; Thai jasmine 86 ppb; Indian basmati 100 ppb; Southeast US and “USA” white rice 118 ppb; Italian arborio (risotto) 142 ppb; Southeast US and “USA” brown rice 151 ppb (Figure 1, p. 7).
- All-rice vs alternative grains: rice average 108 ppb total heavy metals; non-rice grains 33 ppb (69% lower) (Figure 2, p. 8). Rice contained 28 times more arsenic and 1.5 times more cadmium than alternative grains; average iAs was 84.8 ppb in rice vs 3.1 ppb in alternative grains (footnote 9, p. 8).
- Average cadmium: 18.8 ppb in rice vs 27.5 ppb in alternative grains (alternatives higher for Cd specifically) (footnote 9, p. 8).
- Lead: one saffron-seasoned rice sample contained Pb up to 32 times the average lead content in other samples; replicate-sample lead concentrations on saffron yellow rice products of 29.4, 36 µg/kg (e.g., HBR-104 Dixie Lily 29.4 µg/kg; HBR-174 Dixie Lily Saffron Yellow Rice 36 µg/kg; Appendix A pp. 34-35).
- Cooking effect: “cooking rice like pasta” - boiling in 6-10 cups water per 1 cup rice and draining - reduces arsenic by up to 60% (cited body of prior literature; HBBF presents as no-cost mitigation; p. 3).
- Alternative-grain cost: alternative grains averaged ~0.10/serving for rice (~5x cost premium) (p. 8, citing Statista 2024).
- Sample-level Appendix A inorganic-arsenic ranges by rice subtype (selected, ug/kg dry-weight unless noted RTH):
- Arborio rice (n=10): iAs 72.8-156 ug/kg; tAs 77.3-213 ug/kg; Cd 5.1-138 ug/kg
- Basmati rice (n=19): iAs 16.2-123 ug/kg; tAs 24.6-522 ug/kg; Cd 6.8-108 ug/kg
- Brown rice (n=16): iAs 63.4-201 ug/kg; tAs 76.7-317 ug/kg; Cd 2.9-31 ug/kg
- Calrose rice (n=6): iAs 39.9-79.6 ug/kg; tAs 65.5-136 ug/kg; Cd 2.7-5.1 ug/kg
- Jasmine rice (n=22): iAs 15.2-119 ug/kg (one Lundberg California RTH at 15.2); tAs 30-167 ug/kg; Cd 1.5*-23.1 ug/kg
- Sushi rice (n=6): iAs 37.5-80.9 ug/kg; tAs 41.3-169 ug/kg; Cd 2.6*-10.3 ug/kg
- White rice long-grain (n=~50): iAs 20.6-130 ug/kg; tAs 29.3-342 ug/kg; Cd 2.5*-66.8 ug/kg; many Cd >20 ug/kg
- Saffron-seasoned rice products: Pb up to 36 ug/kg (Dixie Lily HBR-174), 29.4 ug/kg (HBR-104); also notably high in some Vigo yellow rice samples (Pb 4.9-6.5 ug/kg)
- Alternative-grain summaries (Appendix A): amaranth/barley/buckwheat/bulgur/couscous/farro/millet/quinoa/spelt; iAs not measured for most (NA in column); tAs typically <12 ug/kg (mostly estimated values flagged ”*”); Cd often higher than rice (e.g., quinoa Cd 15.9-59.9 ug/kg; spelt 32.4-67.3 ug/kg; couscous Cd 9.4-43.7 ug/kg; farro 8.8-44.8 ug/kg).
Methods (brief)
Testing performed by Brooks Applied Labs (Seattle, WA) during 2024-2025 on retail-purchased grain containers from 20 US metro areas. Analytes: total recoverable arsenic, speciated inorganic arsenic, total recoverable cadmium, total recoverable lead, total recoverable mercury. Units: ug/kg (ppb) on dry-grain basis, except samples noted as “ready-to-heat” reported on wet-weight basis. Limits of detection and quantification are reported per-sample in the lab’s detailed reports; the public report uses “ND (<x.x)” to indicate non-detect below the method detection limit and an asterisk (*) to denote estimated values falling between LOD and LOQ. Speciation distinguishes iAs from tAs; the report notes inorganic arsenic in alternative grains was estimated as 70% of total arsenic (footnote 9). Limitations stated by authors: instant rice may form an additional toxic arsenic species (DMMTA, dimethylmonothioarsenate) during high-heat manufacturing that is not captured in standard iAs methods (Carrijo 2022; Colina Blanco 2024; Yadav 2024 cited).
Implications
- Certification (HMTc): Contributes Pb, Cd, tAs, iAs, and tHg occurrence rows for retail US rice across 10 named rice subtypes (arborio, basmati, brown, Calrose, Carolina Gold, Charleston Gold, glutinous, Japonica, jasmine, sushi, Thai long-grain, white long-grain, mixed rice, Morelos, Kalijira, wild blend) and 9 alternative-grain categories. Sample size and geographic spread make this a useful pooled source for rice (ingredient) and infant-rice-cereal-adjacent (product) standards work; format axis is dry-grain-as-sold for most samples and ready-to-heat (wet-weight) for select RTH products.
- Courses: Teachable case for brand QA and supply-chain audiences on how rice variety, growing region, and processing format (e.g., RTH, parboiled, seasoned blends like saffron yellow rice) drive heavy-metal load across an otherwise commodity ingredient.
- App: Adds n=145 rice samples plus 66 alternative-grain samples to rice for Pb, Cd, iAs, tAs, tHg. Also touches quinoa (n=8 samples) and the broader non-rice-grains umbrella.
Wiki pages this source may touch
- arsenic-inorganic
- arsenic-total
- cadmium
- lead
- mercury-total
- rice
- rice-flour
- quinoa
- non-rice-grains
- infant-cereal
- baby-cereals-dry-rice-based
- fda-iAs-rice-cereal-100ppb
- fda-closer-to-zero
Verification notes
- This is a B-tier NGO report (HBBF + GreenLatinos + Virginia Women’s Residency), not peer-reviewed. Methodology summary (Appendix B) is high-level; per-sample LOD/LOQ values are not in the public PDF but are referenced as available in the lab’s detailed reports. Treated as B-tier per Part 13.
- Brand firewall (Part 12): Appendix A names 105 brands across 211 samples. This source page aggregates findings at rice-subtype and grain-category level. Brand names appear in the Key numbers only where they identify special-purpose product forms that drive an outlier (saffron-seasoned rice; instant/ready-to-heat parboiled). Routine brand-by-brand rankings are not reproduced; the appendix tables remain in
raw/for reference.
Page history
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