Simple cooking methods that flush arsenic out of rice

Scientists have found a way to cook rice that strips out most of its arsenic while keeping the food’s nutrients intact.

Story Snapshot

A study from the University of Sheffield tested a method called Parboiling with Absorption, or PBA, against other rice-cooking techniques.
PBA removed 54% of inorganic arsenic from brown rice and 73% from white rice, the best results among methods tested.
The technique also kept more minerals like phosphorous, potassium, and zinc than other cooking styles.
Health agencies already recommend cooking rice in extra water and draining it, but PBA is a more specific, tested version of that idea.

What The New Cooking Method Actually Does

Rice soaks up arsenic naturally from soil and water as it grows. That arsenic sticks around in the grain long after harvest. Researchers at the University of Sheffield set out to find a cooking method that pulls more of it out without wrecking the rice’s nutrition. Their answer was PBA, a two-step process involving a quick boil followed by a fresh-water finish.

The steps are simple enough for any home cook. Bring four cups of water to a boil for every cup of rice. Add the rice, boil it briefly, then drain that water completely. Finish cooking the rice in a fresh cup of water until it’s done. That drained water carries off much of the arsenic before it ever reaches your plate.

The Numbers Behind The Claim

The peer-reviewed study, published in Science of the Total Environment, tested four different cooking approaches on both brown and white rice. PBA outperformed every other method the researchers tried. It cut inorganic arsenic by 54% in brown rice and by 73% in white rice compared to uncooked grain. Consumer Reports ran its own version of the test and reported similar, if slightly lower, reductions of 50% and 58%.

Nutrition matters too, and this is where PBA stands apart from simpler fixes. ScienceAlert reported that the method preserved key minerals including phosphorous, potassium, magnesium, zinc, and manganese, something that heavy rinsing or excessive water dilution tends to strip away along with the arsenic. That balance, arsenic gone but nutrients kept, is the real selling point.

How This Fits With What Health Officials Already Say

The Food and Drug Administration has long advised cooking rice similar to pasta, using extra water and draining it, saying that alone can cut inorganic arsenic by 40% to 60%. PBA builds on that same water-soluble principle but adds a more precise, tested protocol. Researchers published separate findings showing that plain excess-water cooking cuts arsenic by comparable amounts depending on rice type. The core idea holds up across multiple studies, even if the exact numbers shift slightly by method and rice variety.

Where The Evidence Still Has Gaps

No study claims PBA erases arsenic completely. Even the best results still leave measurable amounts in the finished rice, so the accurate word here is reduction, not elimination. The original research also tested a limited number of rice types, meaning results could vary with basmati, jasmine, or rice grown in different regions with different soil arsenic levels.

A later comparison study found that excess-water cooking actually beat PBA when it came to parboiled rice specifically, removing about 50% of arsenic compared to PBA’s 39% for that rice type. For white and brown rice, though, the two methods performed about the same, in the 54% to 58% range. That nuance rarely makes it into headlines, and it matters for anyone trying to pick the single best method for their pantry.

What This Means For Families At The Stove

Parents feeding rice to babies and toddlers have the most at stake here, since children absorb arsenic more readily relative to their body weight. A method that cuts exposure by half or more, using nothing but water and a colander, is a low-cost win for any household worried about long-term contaminant exposure. It costs nothing extra and takes only a few added minutes at dinner time.

Families should not wait for a government agency to issue a formal seal of approval before adopting a simple, well-tested kitchen habit. Boiling rice briefly, draining that water, and finishing in fresh water is not a radical change to anyone’s routine. It is a small adjustment backed by real laboratory numbers, and it costs nothing but a little extra time at the stove.