British World Food Safety Day lecture looks at research into arsenic in rice

Professor Dr Parvez Haris from De Montfort University, Leicester, in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, presented an online lecture for World Food Safety Day entitled “Can quinoa be a healthier and safer alternative to rice ?“. He discussed research led by his group to reduce arsenic exposure in the Bangladeshi population and at the same time increase their intake of beneficial nutrients that are low in their diet. High exposure to inorganic arsenic has been associated with negative impacts on human health.

The presence of arsenic in rice is a well-known problem around the world. However, according to Haris, the Bangladeshi population is at greater risk of exposure to arsenic as they have the highest per capita consumption of rice in the world. Professor Haris and his team have been doing research to identify foods that are low in arsenic but are higher in essential elements such as zinc and iron. This has led them to identify certain varieties of rice, especially aromatic rice such as Kalijeera, that have low arsenic content and higher levels of zinc and selenium which are beneficial for human health. He said his latest research has revealed that quinoa from the Andes has low arsenic content compared to aromatic and non-aromatic rice. Furthermore, his research showed that quinoa contains higher concentration of zinc and iron which is often deficient in Bangladeshi diets.

These reasons along with the fact quinoa has higher protein concentration compared to rice makes the plant from the Andes an attractive food for the Bangladeshi population. In his online lecture, Professor Haris recommended cultivation of quinoa in Bangladesh since it can be grown in harsh climatic conditions, requiring little or no irrigation water. He suggested cultivating the crop during the dry season and in drought and salinity affected regions of Bangladesh. This, he said, will not only reduce depletion of groundwater and surface water that is used for growing rice but will also bring into use land that has been left uncultivated due to drought and salinity problems that are increasing in Bangladesh.