Rice – saviour of the gluten-free eater, or dangerous source
of toxic arsenic? There’s been a lot chat about this subject over recent
months, which investigations both by the UK and by the FDA in the US.
Arsenic poisoning is serious stuff – it’s a heavy metal that
is naturally found in the soil – high levels of arsenic leads to eg. stomach
pain, convulsions and diaorrhea. There are also links to heart disease, cancer,
stroke and other nasties.
Because arsenic can be dissolved in water, it can be
absorbed by plants as they grow. Many grains, fruits and vegetables contain
tiny traces of arsenic, but it has been discovered that rice naturally absorbs
in it higher concentrations than other grains (and often in its most toxic
form), regardless of whether it is organically grown or not. Because the body
finds it very difficult to get rid of arsenic, levels can accumulate in the
body over time – and the more of it you ingest, the worse the problem. Children
are especially sensitive to it too.
The FDA has done quite a lot of research, with an
interesting table on how much arsenic has been found in different rice products
(bear in mind some of the sample sizes are very small). However, it’s worth also
remembering that for centuries, millions of people have relied on a daily diet
of rice – so this is very much about minimising risk rather than needing to
eliminate it all together.
If you’re worried, try to find alternatives where you can.
But while a substitute for rice milk or hot rice cereal can be fairly
straightforward, it’s tricky when it comes to gluten-free flours because so
many of them use rice flour as a key ingredient.
Thankfully, there’s a new product on the horizon. Vicki
Montague, the ‘FreeFrom Fairy’, was worried about the amount of rice her daughter was
eating, in particular because it was frequently the case that she’d be having it three times a day, so has decided to do something about it.
“My daughter was diagnosed with coeliac disease in 2010
after being diagnosed with cow’s milk protein and egg allergies before that. It
was in 2014 that I started to read about arsenic being contained in milk. I had
known for a while that under five’s were not recommended to have rice milk but
until that point I stayed firmly under the duvet when it came to reading about
why this was. In the back of my mind I
knew that my daughter was eating a lot of rice.
As soon as she went gluten-free, rice popped up in everything from her
breakfast cereal in the morning, to her bread for lunch, to her pasta at tea
time,” says Vicki.
“When I finally read about the occurrence of inorganic
arsenic in rice I decided it was time to address my daughter’s diet. Making
everything from scratch wasn’t the answer because the only gluten-free flour
blends on the market either contain rice flour or a combination of bean flours
(that don’t agree with any of our tummies). So, with my background in science
and my love of experiments I set about creating my own flour blend that would
provide my daughter with vital nutrition while at the same time being free from
rice. It was important for me to create
something that I could use in everything I made; I hate faffing around with
hundreds of different flours (even though it is what I have done for years to
create one successful blend!) and wanted to make our life as simple as
possible! It also had to provide protein, fibre and calcium since these things
are often lacking, but important in a gluten-free diet.
“I read about the different properties of each of the
different gluten-free flours; I read about the nutritional content of them, I
read about how to replicate gluten in gluten-free flours; I tried to get as
many wholegrains in there as possible…in fact I confess to becoming rather an
obsessed flour geek!”
Vicki has now created a wholegrain, multipurpose gluten-free
flour blend that is also great for those with sensitive tummies and IBS because
it contains no high FODMAP flours and no gums. The actual make-up is still
under wraps at the moment, but all will soon be revealed. The flour has been
repeatedly tested and Vicki is now in the process of bringing it to market, so
watch this space!
NEXT WEEK – find out what happens when I use Vicki's flour to make
muffins!
