Of the 55 rice varieties sold in the country, at least half of the arsenic is above the norm, according to a recent study by scientists from the University of Sheffield in the UK. The situation with poor countries, where rice is the main food, but there is no trace of arsenic standards, is even worse. Recently, British scientists have seriously taken up this issue and have developed a method of cooking rice, which allows it to get rid of the dangerous substance.
People have known about the presence of arsenic and other toxins in rice for a long time and simply put up with it. It is impossible to transfer all fields to irrigation only with clean spring water; to feed entire nations, huge areas are required to be flooded. In this case, groundwater, as well as wastewater, ends up in the fields, and rice absorbs the same arsenic 10 times more than grain crops. Most of all, in this situation, children under 5 suffer, whose body is especially vulnerable to toxins.
In fairness, the methods of cleaning rice from arsenic were also invented far from yesterday, and they all boil down to treating the grains with water, which should wash out harmful substances. Alas, useful ones are washed out along with them, so the main task of scientists from Sheffield was to find an optimal, balanced method. As a result, this is the combination of steaming with absorption.
To properly cook rice, you need to boil water in a ratio of 4: 1 to cereals, add rice and leave for 5 minutes. Then all the water must be drained - it will carry the arsenic with it. Pour pure water into the rice in a ratio of 2: 1 and leave to cook over low heat, covered, until tender. The method makes it possible to easily wash 55% and 73% of inorganic substances from brown and white rice, respectively. The method is universal, but scientists say that it needs to be adapted to local rice varieties and water quality .
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