Kitchen Myths

It’s unfortunately true that rice contains more inorganic arsenic (the toxic stuff) than other grains. This is simply in the nature of rice, to concentrate whatever little bits of arsenic are present in the soil and water. But the arsenic is in the rice, not on the surface, so rinsing will do no good.

It is still a good idea to rinse rice in most situations to remove excess surface starch, which will make the cooked rice gummy.