Arkansas Approves Resolution to Establish Identity for Rice, Protect Consumers

LITTLE ROCK, AR – This week, Governor Asa Hutchinson signed a resolution to establish a standard of identity for rice using the common understanding of the term “rice.”  The resolution outlines measures the State legislature will take to establish a definition of rice that aligns with international standards.

CODEX, the international food safety standard of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization, defines rice as "whole or broken kernels from the Oryza sativa L. plant," but unlike most commercial grains, rice has no standard of identity in the United States.
 
This has emboldened purveyors of what the rice industry calls "rice pretenders;" food that has gone through the process of being "riced" but that contains no rice at all, such as so-called "cauliflower rice."

Any regulation Arkansas passes as a result of this resolution will lay the groundwork for establishing a standard of identity for rice on the national level.
 
“This resolution is important because we are seeing a definite clash in the marketplace from the confluence of consumers wanting to know exactly what they are eating and advances in food science that allows developers to chase any kind of trend and spit out a product," said Michael Klein, vice president of domestic promotion at USA Rice.  “Rice is a grain, not a shape.”
 
The State resolution will be delivered to each member of the U.S. Congressional delegation from Arkansas, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, and Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Scott Gottlieb.
 
Although the language of the resolution also includes four species of grasses from the genus Zizania known as wild rice, it does not currently mention African rice (Oryza glaberrima), a separate but related heirloom species grown in small quantities in the U.S.
 
According to Lauren Waldrip Ward, executive director of the Arkansas Rice Federation, the resolution is not intended to exclude such varieties.  “It’s a first step for the Arkansas legislature to establish a statewide, and someday a nationwide, standard of identity that eliminates any lack of clarity in the marketplace about what rice truly is.  The purpose is not to exclude other rice types, but to hold rice imposters accountable.”

Klein said, “USA Rice has already raised this issue several times on the federal level with both the FDA and USDA, including directly with Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue.  We will continue to press for a standard of identity for rice and proper product representation in the marketplace and can now point to the Arkansas resolution as positive steps.”