: RICE NUTRITION LABELS MAKE FALSE CLAIMS

October 12, 2006

Media Release

For more information contact:

Dr. Rachael Leon Guerrero at 735-2026 or rachaeltlg@guam.uog.edu

 

Rice Nutrition Labels Make False Claims

 

If you live in the Pacific, chances are your family eats rice on a daily basis. Most families purchase enriched rice, believing standard amounts of important nutrients like thiamin, niacin, iron, and folic acid are included in each serving of rice they consume. After all, this information is clearly stated on the nutrition facts label located on the back of the package.

Recently, samples of 12 brands of rice were sent to the USDA Lab for nutrient analysis. None of the brands met the enrichment standard minimum and almost all were well below nutrition claims made on their labels. The false claims were initially discovered by Dr. Rachael Leon Guerrero, a nutrition professor at the University of Guam who works on various research projects for the university’s CancerResearch Center. Leon Guerrero noted the discrepancy when she had one brand of rice tested that was purchased on Guam. Results prompted her to expand the study to encompass rice sold on the islands of Saipan and Oahu.

“These results have far reaching consequences,” said Leon Guerrero. “Many families across the Pacific depend on rice as a staple food and they aren’t getting the nutrients they need, or the nutrients promised to them on the label. Furthermore, the USDA-funded SchoolLunch and School Breakfast programs may be affected because rice served as part of a child’s meal doesn’t qualify as a serving of ‘enriched’ grains — which may mean the meal cannot be reimbursed by the federal government.”  

The brands tested include Hakubai Sweet Rice, Safeway Medium Grain, Safeway Calrose, Diamond G Calrose, Diamond G Calrose (short), Pacific Pride Calrose, Guam Rose Calrose, Royal Phoenix Jasmine, Ko Ko Jasmine Fragrant, and Maruyu.

All of the brands tested claim to contain folic acid. Four brands do contain folic acid, but in quantities far below those stated on their nutrition labels. According to the Center for Disease Control, folic acid helps prevent birth defects. If a woman has enough folic acid in her body before and while she is pregnant, her baby is less likely to have a major birth defect of the brain or spine.

“The fact that false nutrition claims cut across 12 different brands is disturbing,” said Leon Guerrero. She and her colleagues will use the information to determine nutrient values used for the Pacific Tracker (PacTrac), a food composition database being developed by the Cancer Research Center, Hawaii. Based on the recent research, it is assumed that all rice consumed by Pacific Island populations is un-enriched.

 

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