Baby formula, cereal bars have higher levels of arsenic than allowed in water

There has not been a recall on anything, including formula at this time. High levels of arsenic has been found in formula and cereal bars. Although the brands aren't named, the source is rice syrup. Use your own judgement.


Statement from Nature's One on FB

"We have been answering questions as forthrightly as possible through Facebook, emails and phone. Everyone has the same concerns, and we share those concerns as well. This is a straight forward issue in that there are no USDA or FDA standards for arsenic in food. Our product using organic brown rice and all other products sold in the United States are safe; there are no health concerns. In Asian countries, the average yearly consumption of rice per person is ~225 pounds. In the United States it is 25 pounds. Where is the health crisis in Asian countries? Where is it in the United States? None exists. Organic rice is safe, always has been; it always will be.

"The EPA has a standard for water; that assumes a DAILY consumption level of 10 parts-per-billion (PPB) over an ENTIRE LIFETIME. That is like taking an arsenic pill (the bad form, inorganic) every morning like a daily vitamin. Then maybe at the end of your life, you will experience degraded health. Bottled water has the same 10PPM standard. The reality is that no matter what, we are all consuming arsenic every day from various sources. This is little comfort; we don’t want to consume arsenic. We stand for a clean environment. Every day we are disappointed to learn our environment is polluted – by “us” – not organic farmers. Organic is trying to make a difference.

"The toxic form of arsenic (inorganic) is manmade. It was deposited on our soil and eventually ran-off into the water supply while using now illegal pesticides over many years. Every time you consume food or drink water, even bottled water, you are consuming arsenic. The other infant formulas in the study also reported levels of arsenic, some exceeding 10 PPB.

"If the standard is 10 PPB for organic rice syrup, then why did the authors fail to highlight the formulas that exceeded their own values not using organic rice syrup? Maybe it was an unfortunate oversight? Why didn’t the authors test the many infant formulas that contain conventional rice? There are three easy ones to find in any store. Walmart has one; Similac makes one, so does Enfamil. Check their websites. The reason is simple: this was a targeted attack on organic rice farmers.

"This is the unscientific equivalent of a “drive by shooting.” For this reason, the study released is a slanted point of view; it is meant to incite fear, irrational reactions and hopefully for the industry that provided the funding, destroy organic rice growers dedicated to making the world a place with less chemicals – not more. Chemicals that are being used every day in non-organic farming that may, in the future, be proven to be harmful to our health. Today organic loses, chemicals win. Fear always wins when perpetrated by academic universities that we somehow inherently believe to be looking out for the public good. Organic rice farmers promote a positive message. Less chemicals is a good thing if for no other reason than for what we don’t know about the effects.

"We are trying to provide perspective where there is none, or where people patently reject any explanation provided and will not consider the entire scope of a complex issue. Many of those posts are on our Facebook. There was no perspective until one of the authors from the actual study, responded that there is no reason to panic and apologized for the release. Apology accepted. But we should expect more from our academic universities.

"There are no easy answers. The study was designed to prevent rice growers an easy answer. Otherwise, it would not have its intended effect. Complex science requires time to investigate, to challenge and intellectual honesty. Good science provides clarity, prospective and fairness considering the entire scope of reality, not laser focused with single intent to muddle and destroy.

"We believe the greater good will prevail. Intelligentpeople know that organic farming methods work for a better world. In the meantime, we are working feverishly to provide clarity – without bias – to the salacious attacks from a study that did not exercise the same discipline. We are here to clean up the mess, organically, without the use of harsh chemicals. Please watch our website as we continue to patiently educate about the realities of arsenic in our water, our food and organic/conventional rice. It appears that someone needs to be an expert. We are comfortable with that, but it will take some time. Thank you for being patient."

And, Nature's One statement on it's Web site.