In the quest for healthier sweeteners, many manufacturers have
turned to organic brown rice syrup, but in the process may
inadvertently have introduced high levels of arsenic into their
products, researchers reported. The syrup itself and products
made from it – including toddler formula and energy bars – have
significant concentrations of arsenic, according to Brian
Jackson, PhD, and colleagues at Dartmouth College in Hanover,
N.H. In some cases, the levels are as much as six times higher
than Environmental Protection Agency limits for safe drinking
water, Jackson and colleagues reported online in Environmental
Health Perspectives. There are no U.S. regulations governing
arsenic in food, although there are for drinking water, and the
findings suggest "an urgent need" for such guidelines, the
researchers concluded. The Dartmouth group has previously shown
that brown rice itself contains significant levels of arsenic,
probably as a result of natural processes. Arsenic in the soil
accumulates in the plant, with