Rice milk and arsenic!?!

[petal040]

I was flicking through my NHS 0-5 book and noticed it says not to give babies rice milk as it contains non-organic arsenic???

I thought rice milk was safe! I've never heard of this before - and I know some babies enjoy rice milk as it is light and sweet (maybe a bit like breastmilk?)

What is non-organic arsenic?

 

[mommyof3co]

I've never heard that so I don't know. Our pediatrician recommended us giving Hayden rice milk as he couldn't tolerate other stuff, it was in addition to his breastmilk, we didn't start until 14mo though. He loved it and still drinks it some

 

[freckleonear]

The Food Standards Agency recommends that children under 4.5 years old should not be given rice milk. This is because a study examined 60 samples of rice milk and found levels of inorganic arsenic (the most dangerous form of arsenic) in all of them. Although the levels of arsenic are less than the UK regulations (which were set in 1959 before it was known that inorganic arsenic can cause cancer) and therefore deemed safe for adults, children drink more milk relative to their size. The FSA says "There is no immediate risk to children who have been consuming rice drinks and it is unlikely that there would have been any long-term harmful effects but to reduce further exposure to arsenic parents should stop giving these drinks to toddlers and young children."

https://www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2009/may/arsenicinriceresearch

 

[petal040]

Thanks - it seems kind of scary - I wonder why this info isn't in more of the weaning literature? If I hadn't happened to flick through the 0-5 book I might have used rice milk for cooking etc.

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

This is very good to know - even the BLW 'bible' suggests using rice milk...

 

[mommyof3co]

Wow I can't believe that I wasn't told any of that. I'm going to have to look into it more and the see about the brand we used. On ours it did say not to use as infant formula and to contact a dr about using under age 5 I guess maybe that is why. But we were told to use it. Hayden loved it and still does, though he doesn't drink huge amounts. A half gallon can last almost 2wks

 

[Foogirl]

This was fairly widely reported in the press about a year ago. But I noticed too that in weaning information the advice was still that baby rice should be given. I'm also unsure whether this only applies to ready made drinks or if the rice powder was ok.

My view was, if it was inherrantly dangerous they wouldn't still be widely selling it for children from 4 months. After all, when they discovered an issue with soya for children under one, it was immediately withdrawn. Similarly, when they realised children couldn't have bonjella (and I think there was something about a certain type of ibuprofen for children) again it was immediately withdrawn.

The FSA do some good work but I do wonder if sometimes they are over cautious. They give advice about possible carcinogens but aren't too clear what the actual risk is. Is it 0.0000001% or 10% Is your child more at risk from breathing polluted air than drinking baby rice? Some kind of frame of reference would help but they aren't always that clear.

Is there a similar organisation in the US?

 

[mommyof3co]

Well we have the FDA, not sure if it's like your FSA? I tried looking online after my last post and it seemed that every article I found was from the UK. One even stated that she wasn't even able to find the amount of arsenic allowed in food in the US...only what is allowed in our water sources. But that if rice milk was on the same restrictions as water it would be banned from the market.

" in a study done in 2008 at the University of Aberdeen in the UK, they analyzed rice milk samples from supermarkets to see if the inorganic arsenic that is present in rice, transferred into the milk. All of the brands tested exceeded the arsenic standards in the UK and China, by as much as three times, and 80% failed to meet the US inorganic arsenic standard for allowance in water. "

I don't know. I still feel pretty comfortable giving it to Hayden, like Foogirl said, how much is that in comparison to the air we breathe or other things we come into contact with. I would think if it was dangerous to kids there would be more than a warning label, it would be banned from kids having it such as asprin is.

 

[petal040]

Mommyof3 - I also felt really surprised that nobody had mentioned this to me. My HV suggested cooking with rice milk. Also, I have a friend whose children were bf - he told me that his children thought rice milk tasted similar to their breastmilk - and that they still had rice milk for a 'treat' sometimes (they weren't bf any more)... which made it seem really appealing to me (even though I personally think it tastes yukky - haha).