In response to customers' concerns about trace amounts of arsenic that occurs naturally in many agricultural products, including brown rice syrup made from organically grown rice, Lundberg Family Farms, Richvale announces that it is taking steps to address the issue.
Lundberg Family Farms is a grower and manufacturer of organic rice and the natural market leader of organic rice products. The family-owned and operated company has built its reputation on the safety and wholesomeness of its products, and takes pride in meeting or exceeding government and industry standards for agricultural production and food processing.
Lundberg Family Farms is a grower and manufacturer of organic rice and the natural market leader of organic rice products. The family-owned and operated company has built its reputation on the safety and wholesomeness of its products.
According to Grant Lundberg, CEO of Lundberg Family Farms and a member of the third generation of Lundberg rice growers, the company is undertaking four key initiatives to assure the continued quality and safety of its products:
*Studying the effect of human arsenic ingestion. Lundberg Family Farms is analyzing the available research and enlisting experts to better understand and contextualize the various recent studies of naturally occurring arsenic and rice.
*Assessing current safety recommendations. Lundberg Family Farms is making available on its web site (www.lundberg.com) information from domestic and foreign governments, as well as academic research.
*Establishing testing protocols. While testing has never been a requirement for rice much less other foods that contain naturally occurring arsenic, Lundberg Family Farms is working with research facilities to establish the proper protocols and methodology for testing its products.
*Studying generalized research on arsenic in the environment. Lundberg Family Farms is providing its customers and consumers with information on modes of arsenic uptake to rice, situations where individuals may be at risk for elevated exposure to arsenic, and other general research on arsenic.
"Issues of food safety and environmental responsibility are what drove my grandparents when they founded Lundberg Family Farms in 1937, and they are central to the way we run the business today," says Grant Lundberg. "We share the concerns of our customers when they read reports in the media about studies which find trace amounts of arsenic that occur naturally in products like organic rice."
Mr. Lundberg adds that the subject of naturally occurring arsenic in food products "is complex and an area that has been the subject of a number of studies. We are working to inform our consumers as new information develop to help assure them that Lundberg products are safe to consume."