Rice finding 2019
Source evidence and comparison details for the Rice profile.
Mixed rice · Inorganic arsenic (iAs) · 2 rice samples with reported iAs (of 2211 rice samples in FoodEx 'Rice'; the rest had tAs only).
Selected finding and reference
2 rice samples with reported iAs (of 2211 rice samples in FoodEx 'Rice'; the rest had tAs only). Basis: whole weight (as reported to EFSA; dry-matter results converted to whole weight using moisture data); raw rice as sold/sampled.
0% left-censored; MB substitution (LB: <LOD/LOQ = 0; MB: LOD/2 or LOQ/2; UB: LOD or LOQ). This finding is the MB mean.
HMI baseline position
High · HMI dry-grain iAs reference · 8 sampling families. Mean as reported: 129 µg/kg. HMI median 96; Q1 70; Q3 106 µg/kg. 8 families. Not a safety grade.
Low is below Q1; Moderate includes Q1 through Q3; High is above Q3. Reporting bounds must give the same category throughout.
This is an external comparison; the finding does not set the reference.
Sensitivity to weighting
Equal subgroup weight within each family: High. The position is unchanged under this alternative. This check does not address all sampling, rounding or analytical uncertainty.
Sensitivity to source selection
- Without FDA rice survey (2013): High.
- Without Carey et al. (2020): High.
- Without WHO GEMS/Food: High.
- Without Houlihan et al. 2025: High.
- Without Meharg et al. 2009: High.
- Without Navaretnam et al. 2025: High.
- Without Signes-Pastor et al. 2016: High.
- Without Welna et al. 2018: High.
These checks show dependence on each sampling family; they are not confidence intervals.
Collection period
2003–2012
No year-by-year sample register is reconstructed from this summary.
Geographic scope
Rice, mixed
Rice variety or type within one study.
Sampling, analysis and reporting limits
Heterogeneous member-state methods; for iAs the most reported detection method was ICP-MS (66.8%); 97 rice samples gave iAs as sum of As(III)+As(V).
0% left-censored; MB substitution (LB: <LOD/LOQ = 0; MB: LOD/2 or LOQ/2; UB: LOD or LOQ). This finding is the MB mean.
Shared samples and study overlap
Subgroup rows, statistics of the same subgroup and the study total share samples; they are not independent results.
Each table row describes a food/analyte result. Repeated rows do not add independent samples or datasets. No cross-study trend is calculated in this comparison mode.
Reported values, conversion and source locator
| Source statistic | Original result | Displayed unit conversion |
|---|---|---|
| mean | Rice, mixed 2 0 128.5 128.5 128.5 - - - | none |
Table 3 (Mean reported iAs concentrations in different types of rice), Section 3.1.1; p.17.
No moisture, cooking-yield or species conversion is applied to the original finding above. Any basis conversion used for its HMI comparison is stated separately with the numerical target.
Open the primary publication · HMI source record
Reference and scope
HMI dry-grain iAs reference · 8 sampling families. Dry-weight grain, µg/kg dry weight. Distribution of subgroup median concentration values.
| Reference (µg/kg) | Q1 | Median | Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primary HMI reference | 70 | 96 | 106 |
| Alternative weighting | 70 | 96 | 106 |
74 reference units; 8 sampling families. Counts describe evidence units, not independent studies or certainty.
| Contributing family | Reference units | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| FDA rice survey (2013) | 8 | 13% |
| Carey et al. (2020) | 29 | 12% |
| WHO GEMS/Food | 2 | 13% |
| Houlihan et al. 2025 | 16 | 13% |
| Meharg et al. 2009 | 4 | 13% |
| Navaretnam et al. 2025 | 1 | 13% |
| Signes-Pastor et al. 2016 | 13 | 12% |
| Welna et al. 2018 | 1 | 13% |
Methods
HMI calculates a pooled distribution of subgroup medians across the admitted sampling families. HMI pools subgroup medians from every compatible rice sampling family in the evidence ledger for this analyte, material and basis: published subgroup medians, medians HMI calculates from printed per-sample values and WHO GEMS/Food region-by-year medians (random sampling only). Each family has equal total weight; subgroups have equal weight within a family. Non-detects stay as zero-to-limit intervals, so quartiles carry lower and upper bounds. Means, ranges and maxima never enter as observations. Dry-weight, native-moisture and cooked results are kept in separate references; no moisture conversion is assumed.
Inverse weighted empirical CDF; midpoint at exact cumulative-weight boundaries. At least four reference units and a definitely positive Q1–Q3 spread are required. This is a display eligibility rule, not statistical validation.
Limitations
An evidence-library reference, not a probability sample of the world rice market. Sampling families differ in frame (retail, farm, contaminated sites, monitoring) and period; GEMS/Food regions are reporting regions, not growing origins. Many submissions are non-detects with differing limits, which widens the bounds. A position is descriptive concentration, not a safety or compliance judgment.
Admitted source families
- FDA rice survey (2013)
- Carey et al. (2020)
- WHO GEMS/Food
- Houlihan et al. 2025
- Meharg et al. 2009
- Navaretnam et al. 2025
- Signes-Pastor et al. 2016
- Welna et al. 2018
Reference version and interpretation
Frozen evidence selection: 2026-10-22. Method: hmi-pooled-reference-v2.
hmi-pooled-reference-v2:rice-dry-iAs:f14ec1f869e4
The reference is computed by HMI from admitted evidence, not copied from a study baseline. It describes the evidence currently in this scope; it is not a worldwide or current-lot benchmark. Source, year and region filters do not change it. Different HMI scopes are not one common ranking.