Arsenic Found in 100% of U.S. Rice Samples, Report Reveals

Every bag of rice on your grocery store shelf contains arsenic. That is not speculation. It is the finding of a May 2025 report by Healthy Babies Bright Futures (HBBF), which tested 145 rice samples purchased from stores across 20 U.S. metro areas, including New York City, Los Angeles, and Miami. Arsenic showed up in 100% of them.

More than one in four of those samples exceeded the FDA's limit of 100 parts per billion (ppb) of inorganic arsenic, a threshold the agency set in 2021 for infant rice cereal. The problem: no such limit exists for the bags and boxes of regular rice that families cook and serve at dinner every night.

Why Rice Contains Arsenic

Arsenic is a naturally occurring element found in soil and groundwater. Rice absorbs it more readily than almost any other crop because of how it grows: submerged in flooded paddies where contaminated water saturates the grain throughout its development.

In the United States, rice grown in the Southeast contains some of the highest arsenic levels. Decades of cotton farming in states like Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas left behind arsenic-based pesticide residues in the soil. Those legacy contaminants now concentrate in the rice grown on that same land.

The health consequences of chronic arsenic exposure are serious, particularly for children. The World Health Organization links long-term ingestion of inorganic arsenic to developmental delays, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and multiple types of cancer. Children face outsized risk because they eat more food relative to their body weight and their developing organs are more susceptible to toxic damage.

What the Report Found

The HBBF research team purchased rice from retail stores in 20 metropolitan areas and sent the samples to an accredited laboratory for heavy metal analysis.

Arsenic was detected in all 145 samples. But it was not the only contaminant. According to CBS News, "toxic heavy metals and elements such as arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury" were discovered in commercially available rice across the United States.

The FDA set a limit of 100 ppb of inorganic arsenic for infant rice cereal in 2021, acknowledging that even low levels of arsenic pose a risk to babies. Yet more than 25% of the rice samples HBBF tested exceeded that threshold. These were not specialty products. They were standard bags of rice sold at major grocery chains.

The regulatory gap is hard to ignore. The FDA recognized arsenic in rice as dangerous enough to set a limit for infant cereal, then declined to set any limit for the regular rice that the same infants and toddlers eat as part of family meals.

The Unequal Burden

The contamination does not affect all communities equally. Hispanic and Asian children in the United States consume rice at significantly higher rates than other populations. According to the HBBF report, this dietary pattern translates to arsenic exposure levels up to 7 times higher for these children compared to their peers.

That disparity turns a food safety issue into an environmental justice concern. The families most likely to serve rice as a daily staple are the same families absorbing the highest doses of arsenic, cadmium, and lead. Without federal labeling requirements or mandatory testing, those families have no way to know which products carry the greatest risk.

Which Rice Is Safer

Not all rice carries the same contamination levels. The HBBF report identified categories that consistently tested lower for heavy metals.

California-grown rice had some of the lowest arsenic levels in the study. The difference comes down to soil. California rice paddies do not carry the legacy pesticide burden found in Southeastern growing regions.

Thai jasmine rice and Indian basmati rice also performed better, averaging 32% lower heavy metal levels than other varieties tested. These results align with prior research showing that rice grown in certain international regions has lower baseline arsenic contamination.

The report also highlighted a simple cooking method that makes a real difference. Cooking rice in 6 to 10 cups of water per 1 cup of rice, then draining the excess, can reduce arsenic content by 40% to 60%. Most Americans cook rice using the standard absorption method (2 cups water to 1 cup rice), which retains all the arsenic in the final product.

A Broader Pattern

This report did not land in isolation. The summer of 2025 saw growing attention to hidden contaminants in children's food across the country. Legislative proposals targeting baby food safety gained traction in Congress. State-level investigations into undisclosed heavy metals in baby food products made headlines. The FDA began working to make food safety testing data more accessible to the public.

The HBBF findings fit squarely into this moment: independent researchers are filling the testing gap that federal regulators have left open. Their report called on the FDA to set action levels for arsenic and cadmium in regular rice, require labeling that discloses contamination levels, and mandate that companies publicly post their testing results.

None of those recommendations have been adopted.

What You Can Do

Until regulators act, the burden of avoiding arsenic in rice falls on consumers. The report's findings point to concrete steps worth taking.

Switch to lower-arsenic varieties when possible. California-grown white rice, Thai jasmine, and Indian basmati consistently tested lower. Check the packaging for origin information.

Change how you cook rice. Use the excess-water method: boil rice in 6 to 10 cups of water per cup of rice, then drain. This alone can cut arsenic levels by 40% to 60%.

Diversify your grains. Quinoa, millet, buckwheat, and oats do not accumulate arsenic the way rice does. Rotating grains reduces cumulative exposure over time.

For families with infants and toddlers, the stakes are highest. Rice cereal has been a go-to first food for decades, but the data suggests parents should explore alternatives, or at minimum verify that the products they buy fall within the FDA's 100 ppb limit.

Independent food testing tools like VeriFoods give consumers a way to check whether specific products have been tested for contaminants like arsenic, lead, and cadmium before purchasing them. When regulators are not setting limits, transparent data becomes the next best line of defense.

Sources

1. CBS News - "High levels of arsenic and cadmium found in rice sold in stores across U.S., report finds" - May 2025. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/rice-contaminated-arsenic-cadmium-chemicals-report/
2. Healthy Babies Bright Futures - "Report: What's in Your Family's Rice? Arsenic, Cadmium, and Lead" - May 2025. https://hbbf.org/report/arsenic-in-rice