A daily staple for many families, rice has hidden health risks. The Learning Disabilities Association participated in another food testing project with Healthy Babies Bright Futures and other partners. LDA helped submit rice samples from Arkansas, Maine, and South Carolina. In total, 145 samples of rice were tested and 100% had arsenic and all but one sample also had cadmium. These heavy metals are neurotoxicants, meaning they can harm children’s brain health and are linked to lower cognitive functioning.
The good news is that we can take action in our homes and nationally to protect children and their learning potential.
Download these tips to protect your family right now.
Thanks to LDA joining with many partners and people like you, we got the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to set a limit of inorganic arsenic (the most toxic form of arsenic, known as a neurotoxin and carcinogen) in infant rice cereal. The FDA finalized the 2016 draft rule in 2020. Sadly, we still do not have a limit on how much arsenic can be in rice.
Join LDA’s Healthy Children Project and our partners in pushing the FDA to set a health-protective limit of arsenic and other heavy metals in rice.
Read the executive report summary we co-released in May of 2025, then learn more from our partners, Healthy Babies Bright Futures at https://hbbf.org/
Check out the radio interview with Tracy Gregoire, LDA’s Healthy Children Project Director, on this rice report at https://www.radiomidcoastwcme.com/portfolio/tracy-gregoire-and-rice-advice-on-the-wcme-midccoast-morning-buzz/
