Rice

What the research shows

Prototype

Not enough

published research on this page yet

How we decide

A cereal grain that is a staple food.

It is eaten as a staple food and milled into brown or white rice.

Written from Open Food Facts and English Wikipedia12

  • Vegan
  • Vegetarian

What research says

Study type not stated

  • Concern

    Infant and child health3

    Rice-based foods for infants and young children often contained arsenic above the level set for that age group.

  • Concern

    Lifetime cancer risk from eating4

    Some Thai rice varieties contained heavy metals like arsenic and manganese, and eating them over a lifetime may raise cancer risk.

  • Concern

    Toxin levels in grain5

    Some rice sold in Kenya carried mold toxins, but most amounts stayed low and varied by farm and miller.

The signal at the top counts the findings in people and in animal and lab studies. A concern in studies of people outranks animal and lab studies, and “No concerns” needs at least two findings in people. Findings whose study type is not stated are shown but not counted. This page is a reference, not medical advice. It describes what regulators and published research say. Talk to a doctor or dietitian about your own diet.

Products

The 6 most-scanned of 36,091 products on Open Food Facts that list rice.

  • cruesly mélange de noix Quaker · 450 g 1 additive
  • Alpro tempting and tropical coco low fat Alpro · 1 l 3 additives
  • Muesli Crunchy HACENDADO · 200gr 0 additives
  • Paprika Pringles · 165 g 6 additives
  • pan de molde / pão de forma clásico / clássico Schär · 300 g 2 additives
  • Pringles Original Pringles · 40 g 2 additives

References

  1. 1rice: ingredient taxonomy entry. Open Food Facts.
  2. 2Rice. Wikipedia. Accessed September 26, 2026.
  3. 3Gu Z, de Silva S, Reichman SM. Arsenic Concentrations and Dietary Exposure in Rice-Based Infant Food in Australia. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020;17(2). doi:10.3390/ijerph17020415
  4. 4Kukusamude C, Sricharoen P, Limchoowong N, Kongsri S. Heavy metals and probabilistic risk assessment via rice consumption in Thailand. Food Chem. 2021;334:127402. doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2020.127402
  5. 5Mutiga SK, Mutuku JM, Koskei V, et al. Multiple Mycotoxins in Kenyan Rice. Toxins (Basel). 2021;13(3). doi:10.3390/toxins13030203