Cadmium in the diet is of concern as it is a renal toxicant and a carcinogen, with a half-life in the body measured in decades. Inorganic arsenic is a chronic carcinogen. For many subpopulations, rice and rice products may be the dominate source of cadmium and inorganic arsenic. In particular, rice porridge, cereal and cake are widely used to feed infants (children < 4.5 years old). In the EU standards for cadmium infant foods in general has been set at 40 μg/kg w.wt., and for inorganic arsenic in rice-based infant foods the standard is 100 μg/kg w.wt.. Here we report cadmium and inorganic arsenic concentrations in rice products marketed for infants, and rice containing products that infants may eat but that are not specifically designated for infants. It was found that while rice-based infant foods conformed to the standards, their non-infant food (generic) analogues did not. Non-infant rice crackers and puffed rice cereals, in particular, had concentrations above these standards for both cadmium and inorganic arsenic. Polished pure rice grain purchased in the UK, but sourced from different countries, was also problematic. Basmati, Italian, Spanish and Thai rice, either exceeded one or the other of the cadmium and inorganic arsenic safety thresholds for infants, or both. Egyptian rice grain was particularly low for both toxins. Therefore, if those responsible for infants want to lower exposure to cadmium and inorganic arsenic, they should stick to foods specifically labeled for infants, or carefully source low cadmium and inorganic arsenic rice-based products that are not specifically labeled as being for infant consumption, or minimize exposure to rice-based foods.

饮食中的镉令人关注，因为它是一种肾脏毒物和一种致癌物，在人体中的半衰期为数十年。无机砷是一种慢性致癌物。对于许多亚人群，大米和大米产品可能是镉和无机砷的主要来源。特别是，稀饭，谷类食品和蛋糕广泛用于喂养婴儿（4.5岁以下的儿童）。在欧盟，镉婴儿食品的标准一般设置为40μg/ kg w.wt.，大米婴儿食品中的无机砷的标准设置为100μg/ kg w.wt.。在此我们报告镉和供婴儿使用的大米产品以及婴儿可以食用但未专门指定用于婴儿的大米产品中无机砷的含量。发现基于米的婴儿食品符合标准，他们的非婴儿食品（通用）类似物则没有。尤其是非婴儿大米饼干和膨化大米谷物，其镉和无机砷的浓度均高于这些标准。在英国购买但来自不同国家的精制米粉也存在问题。巴斯马蒂，意大利，西班牙和泰国大米对婴儿的镉和无机砷安全阈值中的一个或另一个超过了二者之一。埃及大米中两种毒素的含量特别低。因此，如果对婴幼儿负责的人希望减少对镉和无机砷的接触，则应坚持专门为婴幼儿贴标签的食品，或谨慎采购未明确标为婴儿食用的低镉和无机砷米制品，或最大程度地减少接触大米食品。