Do we need to worry about food additives?

Over the years there have been several studies published looking at arsenic in rice products.

This naturally leads to news articles being published. Concern amongst the community grows and with that interest there is also a spike in blogs, articles and Instagram posts telling parents that they shouldn’t be feeding their children rice because it is toxic.

So, do you need to be concerned about arsenic in your baby’s food? Before you swear off sushi let’s dig a little deeper.

Most recently, there was a study undertaken by an RMIT University PhD student in 2020 that looked at arsenic in Australian supermarket foods and tested the levels. Although the products they tested met Australia standards, many were higher than the levels allowed in the European Union. Once again, wellness gurus stampeded to the pantry to throw out their rice crackers and proclaimed that parents should avoid infant rice cereal at all costs! But as always with nutrition, it isn’t that black and white.

Have you heard of FSANZ? Probably not, most people haven’t, but FSANZ stands for Food Standards Australia New Zealand and they are responsible for developing and enforcing food standards in Australia. In a nutshell, it is their job to make sure our food is safe. In 2017 off the back of several studies looking at arsenic in commercial rice products (specifically foods marketed at or available to children) they conducted research looking at 200 rice products and tested the arsenic levels (1). From what they tested 80% did have arsenic in them but at a rate much lower than the Australian limits allowed and only two products had higher levels than the EU limits.

So, what does this mean? This mean in general you don’t need to be stressing about arsenic in your baby’s food. If you’re feeding your bub large amounts of rice or rice products several times a day, then it would probably be a good idea to look at ways to reduce the rice to make sure there is a little more variety. More than the arsenic, the large amount of rice would likely be filling them up and making it hard to get in other important nutrients like protein, iron, fats, vitamins and minerals needed for their quickly growing bodies.

But what about rice-based formulas?

For many parents of allergy babies, it is impossible to offer an alternative to rice based infant formulas. Parents of allergy bubs can also rest easy though; you don’t need to be worried. FSANZ has reviewed the research and undertakes extensive monitoring of arsenic in cereal based infant products, which continues to show levels of arsenic are below the maximum permitted levels in Australia. There is also research supporting very low levels in hydrolysed infant rice formulas (2).

So, the take home:

You don’t need to be fearful of offering your bub rice or rice products because of arsenic toxicity. Yes, rice naturally has more arsenic in it than some other plants because of the way it is grown, it takes in and absorbs more from the ground. But, there are strict limits around food safety when it comes to what is sold to us on supermarket shelves here in Australia including arsenic levels. Offer rice as part of a balanced and varied diet where you can. Just like any other food, too much of anything isn’t good for us and for babies with little tummies rice 5 times a day is likely taking the place of some other important foods. Unless you’re serving your bub kilos of rice a day you definitely don’t need to worry and those rice crackers can stay put in the pantry.

1. Ellen Ashmore, Sarah Molyneux, Seamus Watson, Geoff Miles & Andrew Pearson (2019) Inorganic arsenic in rice and rice products in New Zealand and Australia, Food Additives & Contaminants: Part B, 12:4, 275-279, DOI: 10.1080/19393210.2019.1651403
2. Meyer R, Carey MP, Turner PJ, Meharg AA. Low inorganic arsenic in hydrolysed rice formula used for cow’s milk protein allergy. Pediatr Allergy Immunol. 2018 Aug;29(5):561-563. doi: 10.1111/pai.12913. Epub 2018 May 29. PMID: 29701313.

Not a single one of these has any evidence that is good enough for a qualified health provider to recommend them as a way to improve sleep.

In general, starting solids does not influence your baby’s sleep. For some, starting solids might cause some short-term changes to sleep as the gut is getting used to digesting solid food and not just milk for the first time. Eating solids does also change the consistency of baby poo as things like fibre are introduced to the bowel. With solids, poo becomes more formed and less runny. For some bubs, an increase in the amount of solid food they are having can result in constipation and related discomfort. This can impact your bubs sleep and managing the constipation is an important step to take to help with this. However, for most babies any change in sleep should be temporary or non-existent.

As always there is the exception to the rule. Babies with food allergies, reflux and intolerances are one such exception and they can experience significant sleep issues when they start solids. These bubs, for examples those with a cow’s milk protein allergy, often have a history of being very unsettled and poor sleepers. They are also more likely to suffer from constipation when introducing foods. However, only 10% of babies have a diagnosed food allergy in Australia so again, it is not a common problem for most parents when introducing solids. If you are a parent struggling with allergies or reflux and sleep and want some support with solids reach out to your paediatrician and paediatric dietitian.

So, what is the real problem here?

There is a huge focus by society on improving your baby’s sleep, as if they are a problem to fix, instead of acknowledging that it is biologically normal for them to wake frequently. More time needs to be spent on supporting families and normalising infant sleep patterns instead of once again putting the responsibility of whether your bub is or isn’t sleeping on mum and dads’ shoulders.

There is of course a place for gentle and evidence-based sleep support for parents that need guidance and help with sleep, the problem is an unregulated sleep industry where some people use fear and false expectations around baby sleep to sell desperate parents a product.

If your bub is waking overnight this is likely normal. It doesn’t mean that it isn’t hard, sleep deprivation can feel impossible, but know that what you are doing when it comes to solids isn’t going to affect their sleep.