Hey Danny :Retro smile:
Do you have a link for where you saw California rice isn't grown in flooded conditions? I lived for several years in the area it is grown back in the mid 1990's and they very definitely were flooded at that time.
Also found this at the
California Rice Commission:
This sure is a bummer about rice and arsenic.
Thanks for starting the topic Danny, I had not heard it before but it will make me think a bit about if I want to keep it around for the odd meal.
Take care, Lisa:Retro smile:
Hi Lisa and all,
I can't remember where I read that about California not flooding their fields, but if you lived there and saw it happen, then of course at least in some areas they must be still doing it.
However, location is important, only if the rice is grown on soil that is high in inorganic arsenic, or was contaminated with arsenic:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1892142/
"At one point during the reign of King Cotton, farmers in the south central United States controlled boll weevils with arsenic-based pesticides,
and residual arsenic still contaminates the soil. Today, rice paddies cover fields where cotton once grew, and a large market basket survey published in the 1 April 2007 issue of Environmental Science & Technology now shows that
rice grown in this area contains, on average, 1.76 times more arsenic than rice grown in California."
..."Total arsenic levels in the 107 south central rice samples averaged 0.30 μg/g, compared to an average of 0.17 μg/g in the 27 California samples.
A white rice sample from Louisiana ranked highest in total arsenic (0.66 μg/g), and an organic brown rice from California ranked lowest (0.10 μg/g). Organic growing conditions, however, do not guarantee low arsenic levels, since any rice growing in arsenic-laden soil soaks up arsenic, says Meharg."
And finally...
"“Until this all gets sorted out, consumers shouldn’t be overly concerned,” Duxbury says. Nevertheless, rice fanciers might note that both Duxbury and Meharg found
basmati rice imported from India and Pakistan and jasmine rice from Thailand to contain the least arsenic."
I'll email Lundberg tomorrow and ask if they test for arsenic.
d.