New way of cooking rice removes arsenic and retains mineral nutrients, study shows
New way of cooking rice removes arsenic and retains mineral nutrients, study shows
by University of Sheffield
Cooking rice in a certain way removes over 50 percent of the naturally occurring arsenic in brown rice, and 74 percent in white rice, according to new research.
A new paper, released today in Science of the Total Environment shows that cooking rice in a certain way removes over 50 percent of the naturally occurring arsenic in brown rice, and 74 percent in white rice. Importantly, this new method does not reduce micronutrients in the rice.
Following previous research from the University of Sheffield that found half of the rice consumed in the UK exceeded European Commission regulations for levels of arsenic in rice meant for the consumption for infants or young children. This new study tested different ways to cook rice to try and reduce the arsenic content and the team from the Institute for Sustainable Food found that by using a home-friendly way of cooking rice, the "parboiling with absorption method" (PBA), most of the arsenic was removed, while keeping most nutrients in the cooked rice.
The PBA method involves parboiling the rice in pre-boiled water for five minutes before draining and refreshing the water, then cooking it on a lower heat to absorb all the water.
Arsenic, which is classified as a Group 1 carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, is water-soluble—so it accumulates in rice, which is grown in flooded fields more than other cereals. Arsenic exposure affects almost every organ in the body and can cause skin lesions, cancer, diabetes and lung diseases.
Rice is known to accumulate around ten times as much arsenic as other cereals. In rice grains arsenic is concentrated in the outer bran layer surrounding the endosperm. This means that brown rice, (unmilled or unpolished rice that retains its bran) contains more arsenic than white rice. This milling process removes arsenic from white rice but also removes 75-90% of its nutrients.
More at the link.
https://phys.org/news/2020-11-cooking-rice-arsenic-retains-mineral.html
❤lmsp
= new reply since forum marked as read
Just learning to cook Asian, simple dishes first, and have been confused about the rice/arsenic issue. 
Not sure why it hasn't occurred to me to learn to cook this fav food before. 
Ty again, my friend! 
