Jackson 2012 — Arsenic, Organic Foods, And Brown Rice Syrup
Summary
This peer-reviewed analytical study measured total arsenic and arsenic species in commercial brown-rice syrups and products containing organic brown rice syrup, including formulas. It is relevant to Category 1 because it reports arsenic findings for infant formulas without organic brown rice syrup and toddler formulas with organic brown rice syrup, but it does not isolate HMTc row 1 non-soy powdered infant formula.
Key numbers
- The study analyzed 15 infant formulas without organic brown rice syrup and 2 toddler formulas with organic brown rice syrup.
- Average total arsenic concentrations in the 15 infant formulas without organic brown rice syrup were in the range of 2 to 12 ng/g.
- Because 1 ng/g equals 1 ug/kg, the reported range corresponds to approximately 2 to 12 ppb total arsenic in formula powder.
- Organic brown rice syrup toddler formulas had arsenic concentrations more than 20 times higher than infant formulas without organic brown rice syrup.
- In reconstituted formulas with organic brown rice syrup, inorganic arsenic was reported as approximately 8 to 9 ug/L for the dairy-based toddler formula and approximately 1.5 to 2.5 times the 10 ug/L drinking-water standard for the soy-based toddler formula.
- Organic brown rice syrup formulas also contained 19 to 40 ug/L dimethylarsenate, with trace monomethylarsonate.
Methods (brief)
Formula samples were digested and analyzed for total arsenic by ICP-MS. Selected samples were extracted for arsenic speciation using dilute nitric acid and analyzed by ion chromatography coupled to ICP-MS. The authors estimated reconstituted-formula arsenic concentrations using a formula-powder-to-water preparation assumption.
Limitations
The two high-arsenic formula products were corrected by the authors to be toddler formulas, not infant formulas. The paper does not separate non-soy infant formula powder from soy-based infant formula powder for HMTc row purposes. The 2 to 12 ppb infant-formula finding is therefore useful as broad formula-powder evidence, not as a precise non-soy row distribution.
Implications
- Certification: Useful evidence for arsenic risk from rice-derived sweeteners and formula-powder contexts, but not sufficient for row-specific non-soy formula thresholds.
- Courses: Strong teaching example for why ingredient-derived arsenic can enter products that are not obviously rice-based.
- App: Supports ingredient-list flags for organic brown rice syrup and rice-derived sweeteners in formula-like products.
- Microbiome: No direct microbiome endpoint.