By, David Liu, Ph.D. and editing by Aimee Keenan-Greene

A new study shows  brown rice syrup contains high levels of arsenic, which is known to be potentially carcinogenic.

In many foods, organic brown rice syrup is used as a replacement for  high fructose corn syrup or corn sugar, which has been associated with the obesity epidemic in the United States.

Brian Jackson and his colleagues at Dartmouth College conducted the study that looked at the concentrations of arsenic in processed food products containing organic brown rice. They included infant formula, cereal/energy bars, and high-energy foods often used by endurance athletes.

Researchers say one infant formula contained 60 parts per billion or ppb of arsenic.  The limit of arsenic in drinking water by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)  is 10 ppb.  Cereal bars and high-energy foods with organic brown syrup also contained higher concentrations of arsenic than those without the syrup.

Two of the 17 infant milk formulas containing organic brown syrup as the primary ingredient had extremely high levels of arsenic when tested, in some cases as much as 20 times higher than that of  the other formulas.

The researchers also found 8 to 128 ppb of arsenic in 22 cereal bars which had at least one of four rice products - organic brown rice syrup, rice flour, rice grain and rice flakes listed on nutrition labels.

In comparison, bars without rice-based  ingredients had 8 - 27 ppb of arsenic.

The study was published February 16, 2012, in Environmental Health Perspectives.

Previously apple juice had been found to be high in arsenic.  One reason may be pesticides.  Chemicals with this semi-metal element can cause a series of health problems including thickening and discoloration of the skin, stomach pain, nausea, vomiting; diarrhea; numbness in hands and feet; partial paralysis; and blindness, according to the EPA. 

Arsenic has also been linked to cancer of the bladder, lungs, skin, kidney, nasal passages, liver, and prostate.