Basmati rice: One in five products is deficient
The result was disappointing: the testers rarely found top quality Basmati rice, and even the price says nothing about the quality. On the first and last places are inexpensive, but also expensive and organic products. Only five white, loosely packed trips are good. No wholemeal rice, boil-in-bag rice or microwave rice was convincing. Stiftung Warentest has selected, tested, prepared and tasted 31 basmati rice products at prices ranging from 1.78 to 8.45 per kilogram. Overall, the judgments ranged from good to inadequate.
Whether precooked or not - every rice should be as free of harmful substances as possible. But some products in the test stand out negatively, two should not even have been sold. They had higher pesticide levels than allowed. Pests are controlled not only in the field, but also during storage and transport from Asia to Europe - with fumigants. This is prohibited for organic rice. However, the testers found residues of a fumigant in two organic products.
Arsenic is no problem with Basmati rice. The rice plant absorbs arsenic from the soil and accumulates it in the core. Inorganic arsenic is considered carcinogenic. All products in the test clearly fall below the permissible limit value.
Whole rice is unpeeled. Its marginal layers can accumulate harmful substances, but there are also vitamins, minerals and dietary fibres. No whole grain rice scores well in the test - mainly because of the proven pollutants. Pre-cooked Basmati for the microwave is convenient to prepare, but none is recommended in the test.
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