Arsenic in rice for babies: the question isn't new, but there are two recent reference points. Regulation (EU) 2023/465, in force since 26 March 2023, lowered the maximum levels of inorganic arsenic in rice. It also set new ones for infant foods, including 0.10 mg/kg for rice used to make them. And on 18 January 2024, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) confirmed that consumers' dietary exposure to inorganic arsenic raises a health concern. Children under three are the most exposed age group. Here's what these texts say, and what they mean for what goes on a toddler's plate.
Why does rice accumulate arsenic?
Arsenic occurs naturally in soil and water. Its inorganic form is the most toxic: EFSA classes it among genotoxic and carcinogenic substances, linked in particular to skin, lung and bladder cancer. Rice grows with its roots in water, in flooded paddies, and absorbs arsenic from the soil more efficiently than other cereals. That's why rice and rice-based products are among the main sources of dietary exposure identified by EFSA in its 2021 report, alongside non-rice cereals and drinking water.
For an adult, rice is one food among many. For a baby just starting on solids, rice flour and rice cakes, infant cereals and porridges can make up a large share of what they eat. Relative to body weight, a child under three is exposed two to three times more than an adult, according to the recitals of the 2023 EU regulation.
Arsenic in rice for babies: what are the current maximum levels?
Regulation (EU) 2023/465 of 3 March 2023 replaced the 2015 limits, which only covered rice and rice-based products. It lowered them and extended them to foods for infants and young children, fruit juices and salt. The values below are taken from its annex and expressed in mg/kg wet weight for inorganic arsenic.
- Non-parboiled milled (white) rice: 0.15.
- Parboiled rice and husked (brown) rice: 0.25.
- Rice flour: 0.25.
- Rice waffles, rice wafers, rice crackers, rice cakes, rice flakes and popped breakfast rice: 0.30.
- Rice destined for the production of food for infants and young children: 0.10.
- Non-alcoholic rice-based drinks: 0.030.
- Infant formula, follow-on formula, food for special medical purposes for infants and young children, and young-child formula, marketed as powder: 0.020; marketed as liquid: 0.010.
- Baby food: 0.020.
- Fruit juices, fruit juices reconstituted from concentrate and fruit nectars: 0.020.
- Salt: 0.50, as total arsenic.
Two things stand out. First, rice intended for infants must meet a lower limit than ordinary rice: 0.10 versus 0.15, and versus 0.25 for brown rice. Second, a finished baby food, whether porridge or a jar, is capped at 0.020 mg/kg, five times lower than the rice used to make it, because the finished product is diluted. Foods lawfully placed on the market before 26 March 2023 could still be sold until their best-before date. These limits have since been carried over into Regulation (EU) 2023/915 of 25 April 2023, which brings together all maximum levels for contaminants.
What does EFSA's opinion of 18 January 2024 say?
The European Commission had asked EFSA to update its 2009 assessment to take account of new studies on the toxic effects of inorganic arsenic. EFSA put its draft out to public consultation, then published its conclusions on 18 January 2024. They confirm the health concern raised in 2009.
The method used is the margin of exposure, applied to genotoxic and carcinogenic substances that end up in the food chain without being deliberately added. The smaller the margin, the higher the risk. The effect considered most relevant is skin cancer; according to the experts, protecting against it also protects against the other potential effects. Based on human data, a margin of exposure of 1 or less could correspond to exposure associated with an increased risk of skin cancer. In adults, the calculated margins range from 2 to 0.4 for average consumers and from 0.9 to 0.2 for high consumers, which is a concern.
EFSA's page does not give a specific margin for infants and contains no risk management recommendations: that role falls to the Commission and the Member States. It notes that drinking water also contributes to exposure, though generally at low levels in Europe. EFSA has announced a separate assessment of organic arsenic, found mainly in seafood, followed by an assessment of combined exposure.
Should you stop giving your baby rice?
No. No European text advises against rice for infants, and the 2023 regulation is designed precisely so that products intended for them meet a stricter limit. The risk described by EFSA is one of chronic exposure over time, and it depends on the total amount of inorganic arsenic ingested over the years. What matters is the place rice takes in the overall diet, not a single bowl of rice porridge.
The regulation's categories themselves show the way. The products with the strictest limits, infant formula and baby food, are the ones designed for daily consumption, and they are under the closest regulatory scrutiny. The products with the highest limits, rice cakes and puffed rice, are not meant to be eaten every day by a toddler. Rice drink, capped at 0.030 mg/kg, is not infant milk in any case and doesn't meet a baby's needs.
How can you reduce your baby's exposure to arsenic?
- Vary the cereals. This is the measure that follows most directly from EFSA's findings. Wheat, oats, maize, barley, buckwheat, millet and quinoa share porridges and snacks with rice instead of leaving it on its own. Weaning as recommended by the French authorities is described in our article on weaning according to ANSES.
- Don't make rice cakes the default snack. They fall into the least restrictive category in the regulation and offer little nutritionally.
- When buying processed rice products, choose those made for infants. The limit that applies to them is the lowest of all.
- Cook rice in plenty of water and drain it rather than using the absorption method, since inorganic arsenic is soluble. This is a cooking practice, not a regulatory recommendation, and it doesn't replace variety.
- Remember that water counts. It is a source of exposure identified by EFSA, even though levels are generally low in Europe. The choice of water for bottles is regulated in France, as we explain in our article on which water to use for bottles.
- Don't switch to brown rice to compensate. Its limit is higher than that of white rice, because arsenic concentrates in the outer layer of the grain.
What this regulation says about the rest of the diet
Rice isn't the only source. The regulation's recitals cite several notable contributors to young children's exposure. These are infant cereals, biscuits and rusks for children, infant and follow-on formula, baby food and fruit juices. That's why specific limits have been set for them. A child who eats a varied diet, with few processed products and little juice, will naturally be less exposed than a child fed mostly on rice cakes and plant-based drinks.
The same logic applies to other substances monitored in food or everyday objects: dose, duration and variety determine the risk. We have described it for containers in our article on microplastics and baby bottles, and for nursery product materials in our guide to the chemical safety of baby products. Iron, whose requirements shoot up around six months, is another point to watch at the same age, covered in our article on iron deficiency in infants.
Key takeaways
Arsenic in rice is a well-documented, regulated and monitored issue. Since March 2023, rice intended for infants has been capped at 0.10 mg/kg of inorganic arsenic and baby food at 0.020 mg/kg. In January 2024, EFSA confirmed that population exposure remains a health concern, without recommending that rice be excluded. For a baby, the answer comes down to one word: variety. Rice has its place in porridges and meals, alongside other cereals, never instead of them.
Sources
- Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/465 of 3 March 2023 amending Regulation (EC) No 1881/2006 as regards maximum levels of arsenic in certain foods. OJEU of 6 March 2023, annex and Articles 2 and 3. Carried over into Regulation (EU) 2023/915 of 25 April 2023.
- Assemblée nationale (French National Assembly), text E 17272 (Council document 14759/22 of 15 November 2022), draft regulation and its recitals, registered on 17 November 2022.
- EFSA, “Inorganic arsenic in food: health concerns confirmed”, news item of 18 January 2024.
