Better Rice is Black

As soon as we found this out we had to tell you. The CBS News headline called out: "New research shows that black rice packs a bigger antioxidant punch even than blueberries". Better news if you can find it. Emphasis on the word find. Black rice might be found at you local Chinatown, health food store or even grocery:

"Black rice also costs less than blueberries or blackberries, another antioxidant-rich fruit. Anthocyanin antioxidants - also found in red grapes, strawberries, red wine, red cabbage, red onion, and blood orange juice - have been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease and cancer." (CBS News)

We first heard the words black rice from Tommy Tang's Easy Thai Cooking show sponsored by the Thailand board of tourism. The recipe we can't remember. The dish might have been a mock beef recipe (Mistake on the Lake #116) that was made out of fish, tofu or turkey. And to make the dish darker its called for black rice. The dish wasn't enough to compel us to seek out this "burnt" (we thought) staple but we're a sucker for science. Which means that as soon as we saw the story we knew we had to bring the news to you.

All our stories seem to have derived from the American Chemical Society (ACS) who discover better living verified by chemical science.

While the price might be cheaper than blueberries in theory in web reality the price is more than $3.59 for 15 oz a bag (plus 6.50 shipping) - not cheaper than what we could find locally for blueberries though frozen ($3.69 a pound) and not fresh.

Whenever we do a basic story we discover a basic mistake in the information provided by CBS that could have been discerned with a simple GOOGLE search. In this case black rice isn't cheaper than blueberries or red grapes that we can find locally. However what Dr. Zhimin Xu, Associate Professor at the Department of Food Science at Louisiana State University Agricultural Center in Baton Rouge, La., reported further down the page "that farmers are interested in growing black rice in Louisiana and that he would like to see people in the country embrace its use. "

The story may eventually become true for us. We will however stay on the look out for some "forbidden rice" if and when it is ever on sale. We asked Dr. Xu, as we always do when we discover a discrepancy in reported information. If and when the doctor responds we will stay on the look out for that information as well and report it to you. If and when black rice is grown and marketed locally the green (transportation and production) costs may make it more affordable. But as of today that's not what we've found to be true.

"The black rice used in our study was produced in Louisiana. However, the rice is only used for experiment, but not for commercial sale. Actually, most of black rice you found in grocery stores or websites are imported. That is reason why their price is quite higher." - Zhimin (August 27)

Emphasis added by us (always). We're just too smart for our own good - we think! We've asked how the news reports and reporters got it so wrong about the issue of price and if Dr. Zhimin Xu responds to these questions we're bring these answers to you as well.

"Actually, the cost of growing black rice is almost as same as growing brown rice, if it is produced in commercial scale in the US.  So, it will be cheaper than the current price of berries.  Based on the increase number of consumers, I think the commercial black rice from Louisiana will come to market soon. " - Dr. Zhimin Xu (August 30)