In response to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) 2016 Arsenic in Rice and Rice Products Risk Assessment Report, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report on April 16, 2018 acknowledging the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) efforts to develop methods to detect arsenic in rice but concluding that FDA could improve risk communications to the public, as well as coordination with other agencies to address arsenic in rice.

GAO recommends that FDA develop a timeline for updating its risk assessment and finalizing its draft guidance and that FDA and USDA develop a coordination mechanism for developing methods to detect foodborne contaminants, including arsenic.

Dr. Susan Mayne, Director of FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, released a statement on April 17, 2018 in which she concurs with the GAO recommendations and notes that the agency is seeking to establish an action level for inorganic arsenic in infant rice cereal by the end of 2018.