Arsenic found in baby food sweetener
Source: Agencies |
February 18, 2012, Saturday
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A SAMPLING of products sweetened with organic brown rice syrup, including cereal bars and baby formulas, found levels of arsenic that exceeded US standards for bottled water, US researchers have said.
The study by researchers at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire followed a Consumer Reports analysis of arsenic levels in fruit juices last year.
The previous study showed some juice samples exceeded federal limits on arsenic in place for drinking water.
Organic brown rice syrup is used as a sweetener in some foods as an alternative to high fructose corn syrup, researchers said, and rice can be a major source of inorganic arsenic.
For the latest study, published on Thursday, the team tested 17 baby formulas, 29 cereal bars and three energy shots that were purchased in the Hanover, New Hampshire area.
Of the two formulas that listed organic brown rice syrup as the main ingredient, one had a total arsenic concentration that was six times the federal limit for bottled water, which is 10 parts per billion, the team reported in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.
"I don't think there's much risk associated with eating a cereal bar every couple of days," Brian Jackson, the lead researcher said.
"But it is a source of arsenic that we may not be considering."
The US Food and Drug Administration said it recognized there were trace levels of arsenic in many foods and has expanded its surveillance of rice.
The study by researchers at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire followed a Consumer Reports analysis of arsenic levels in fruit juices last year.
The previous study showed some juice samples exceeded federal limits on arsenic in place for drinking water.
Organic brown rice syrup is used as a sweetener in some foods as an alternative to high fructose corn syrup, researchers said, and rice can be a major source of inorganic arsenic.
For the latest study, published on Thursday, the team tested 17 baby formulas, 29 cereal bars and three energy shots that were purchased in the Hanover, New Hampshire area.
Of the two formulas that listed organic brown rice syrup as the main ingredient, one had a total arsenic concentration that was six times the federal limit for bottled water, which is 10 parts per billion, the team reported in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.
"I don't think there's much risk associated with eating a cereal bar every couple of days," Brian Jackson, the lead researcher said.
"But it is a source of arsenic that we may not be considering."
The US Food and Drug Administration said it recognized there were trace levels of arsenic in many foods and has expanded its surveillance of rice.
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