FDA will allow food labels on brown rice to bear the whole grain health claim: “may reduce risk of heart disease and certain cancers.”

Brown rice and other whole grain foods are widely recommended to consumers by the public health community including the American Heart Association, American Cancer Society and the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans for their protective effects against heart disease and certain cancers. In fact, the Dietary Guidelines recommend “making half of all grain servings whole,” or three daily whole grain servings in a standard 2000-calorie reference diet. Still, data from a recent consumer survey show that the majority of Americans (65%) are not meeting their whole grains quota.

With FDA’s announcement, consumers can now be on the lookout for brown rice labeled with the FDA whole grain health claim: “Diets rich in whole grain foods and other plant foods and low in total fat, saturated fat and cholesterol may reduce the risk of heart disease and some cancers.”

FDA’s action explicitly extends an existing health claim to include whole grain rice. For the first time, FDA states that all single ingredient whole grain foods qualify for the claim regardless of whether they meet the requirement for a minimum level of dietary fiber, as long as they meet the other general health claim requirements. The dietary fiber requirement was established in 1999 in order to monitor compliance with the claim.

FDA now states that compliance for single ingredient whole grain foods will be monitored by examining package ingredient statements, not through fiber content. The science on which the health claim is based clearly acknowledges that the health benefits of whole grains are independent of their fiber content.

From a public health perspective, this news means that now there’s one more option for the nearly 90% of Americans who know that whole grains should be part of a healthy diet and the 70% who say they would be likely to increase whole grain consumption if the benefits were clearly listed on the package.

One hundred percent whole grain brown rice is an economical, nutritious and versatile food. With only the inedible hull removed, brown rice contains beneficial phytonutrients including antioxidants, anthocyanins, phytosterols, tocopherols oryzanol and many other potentially protective substances that have been found to help reduce the risk of heart disease, certain cancers, type II diabetes and potentially aid in weight maintenance. Brown rice also contains 15 vitamins and minerals, including B-vitamins, potassium, magnesium, selenium, iron, and 2 grams of fiber per one half cup of cooked rice.

The FDA action adds support to the growing body of scientific data that shows that rice is a healthy food choice. Recent research found that rice eaters are more likely to eat a diet consistent with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

Americans who eat rice have healthier diets than non-rice eaters and may have reduced risk for chronic diseases including heart disease and type II diabetes. Compared to people who do not eat rice, people who eat rice consume less added sugar and fat; consume more nutrients, such as folic acid, potassium and iron that are contained in rice products; are less likely to be overweight or have an increased waist circumference; have 34% reduced risk of having high blood pressure; and have a 21% reduced risk of metabolic syndrome.