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According to recent reports rice is high in arsenic. What about rice protein?

I am taking a protein powder that has "yellow pea protein isolate, sprouted whole-grain rice protein concentrate, organic instantized quinoa seed protein, organic Chia Sprout protein".

Would protein concentrate from Rice have high levels of arsenic?

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine/2015/01/how-much-arsenic-is-in-your-rice/index.htm

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  • $\begingroup$ sigh Rice doesn't inherently have any arsenic at all. There may be a bit in one sample, a bit more in another. In theory there could be none whatsoever. This question is quite bad for a one which was upvoted 6 times and isn't HNQ. $\endgroup$
    – Mithoron
    Mar 30, 2017 at 23:01
  • $\begingroup$ To the contrary, I'd say arsenic is ubiquitous in soils worldwide and that every plant contains arsenic, it's just a matter of how much. If you don't measure any it's because your instrumentation doesn't have a low enough detection limit, not because the plant doesn't have any arsenic at all. That's true for about any element, but arsenic is a particularly big concern. $\endgroup$
    – airhuff
    Mar 31, 2017 at 0:36

1 Answer 1

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The US FDA reported arsenic testing of 12 rice protein powders as follows:

333863609, Dietary Supplements, Rice Protein Powders, Plant-Based Energizer: 0.1

333511892, Dietary Supplements, Rice Protein Powders, Protein Energizer: 0.8

333511937, Dietary Supplements, Rice Protein Powders, Protein Energizer: 0.9

334620956, Dietary Supplements, Rice Protein Powders, Raw Vegan Chocolate: 0.9

334094485, Dietary Supplements, Rice Protein Powders Plant-Based Drink Mix: 1.0

333511880, Dietary Supplements, Rice Protein Powders, Raw Protein: 1.1

333687971, Dietary Supplements, Rice Protein Powders, High Protein Energy Meal: 1.4

333687931, Dietary Supplements, Rice Protein Powders, High Protein Energy Meal: 1.6

334093871, Dietary Supplements, Rice Protein Powders, Blend of protein, fruits & veggies: 1.6

334094067, Dietary Supplements, Rice Protein Powders, Chocolate Plant Protein Shake: 3.7

334093956, Dietary Supplements, Rice Protein Powders, Blend of protein, fruits & veggies: 4.4

333688312, Dietary Supplements, Rice Protein Powders, Organic Meal Replacement: 5.7

Where the units are micrograms of inorganic arsenic per serving.

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  • $\begingroup$ Thanks, So to cut to the chase, does rice protien have high levels of arsenic? Took a look at the link but looks like it requires a more concentrated sitting to understand. How many units of inorganic arsenic per serving is too high? $\endgroup$
    – larry909
    Mar 30, 2017 at 19:23
  • $\begingroup$ @larry909 well the FDA proposed an action level of 100 ppb inorganic arsenic for infants cereal fda.gov/food/foodborneillnesscontaminants/metals/ucm319870.htm and 1 of the 12 samples above exceeded that level. $\endgroup$
    – DavePhD
    Mar 30, 2017 at 19:39
  • $\begingroup$ Which one? How many micrograms equals 100 pbb? $\endgroup$
    – larry909
    Mar 30, 2017 at 19:53
  • $\begingroup$ @larry909 "Blend of protein, fruits & veggies" was 152 ppb of inorganic arsenic (230 ppb total arsenic). It was 4.4 micrograms of inorganic arsenic for a 29 gram serving. (see page 58 of the pdf in the answer). $\endgroup$
    – DavePhD
    Mar 31, 2017 at 0:53
  • $\begingroup$ So in general, based on your understanding of these numbers, does rice protien powder have a higher level of arsenic per serving than a serving of regular rice? About the same? $\endgroup$
    – larry909
    Mar 31, 2017 at 6:32

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