The magazine 60 Millions de consommateurs compared numerous references of rice sold in supermarkets. A well-known brand is singled out.
Is your favorite rice really the best? Thai rice, Camargue rice, basmati rice, organic or not, quick to cook, fragrant… Rice references have become very numerous on supermarket shelves. To help us see things more clearly, the magazine 60 Millions de Consommateurs published a survey covering several types of rice and brands sold in supermarkets.
The magazine scrutinized each major brand before separately comparing three types of rice: Thai, organic or non-organic basmati, Camargue rice and long grain rice. The objective was to compare the content of three substances: pesticides, aflatonixnes and inogarnic arsenic, products which are regulated with maximum levels set by the European Union.
The results are in and may surprise you. If organic brands are the highest rated among Thai rice, the Carrefour distributor brand shines in the basmati rice category by ranking in first place, far ahead of recognized brands like Taureau Ailé, third in this same category for its rice organic, or Lustucru 5e.
Basmati rice also has a rather poor rating for these pollutants. This is the most contaminated rice according to 60 Million consumers, who explain it easily “Fifteen years ago, producers added more productive varieties and pushed towards more intensive rice cultivation that uses pesticides”, notes Delphine Marie-Vivien, researcher at CIRAD and interviewed by the magazine. As a result, some rice tested had high levels of pesticides, including one from a very well-known brand in France and sold in all supermarkets.
This brand is Ben’s Original, formerly known as Uncle Ben’s and which exploded on the French market in the 80s with a number of television spots. 60 Million consumers found tebuconazole in their batch of Ben’s Original rice, a fungicide and plant growth regulator, a product targeted by the French health safety agency for its potentially carcinogenic, mutagenic and toxic nature for reproduction. Worse still, there is also a pesticide, isoprothiolane, banned for use in the European Union… but not elsewhere on the globe. For information, Ben’s Original basmati rice is harvested in India or Pakistan depending on the packages.
60 Million consumers therefore recommend more Carrefour Extra basmati rice with good value for money which obtains the best score in the study, all categories of rice combined with 18/20, compared to 8/20 for Ben’s Original rice. The magazine also praises Monoprix long-grain Thai rice, Leclerc’s Our regions have talent Camargue rice and Jasmice Rice long-grain rice, references without pesticide residue.