Assessing the Knowledge of Kurdish Consumers about the Presence and Health Impacts of Arsenic in Rice

Background: Rice is a staple food in most countries around world including Kurdistan region of Iraq. Rice is one of the main sources of arsenic to transfer it to human body Objectives: to assess the knowledge of Kurdish people who consume rice in their daily meal and increase their awareness about arsenic in rice. Methodology: A cross – sectional study was conducted from November 11, 2022, to April 20, 2023. This article provides an overview of the Kurdish consumer knowledge about the issue of arsenic presence in rice. Overall, this article highlights the importance of addressing the issue of arsenic in rice in order to protect the health of rice consumers worldwide. The research composed of three parts questionnaire. Part I (7 questions) contains sociodemographic data; section (II) contains covers items related to height, weight and physical activity; section (III) (19 questions) contains the knowledge of Kurdish consumers about arsenic in rice. 282 people participated in this survey (from the age of 18 to more than 46 years old) from both genders. Results: The results revealed that 94% of participants eat rice as a staple food and consume more than 2 cups of rice per single meal. 51% (143) of the participants don’t know that rice contains arsenic and cause health issues. This article will help people to look at rice more seriously because of the fact that rice contains arsenic. Therefore, 88% of the participants think that this information will help them to rethink about the quantity of rice they eat. Lastly, 72% of the participants have decided that they will reduce the amount of rice that they normally consume after this study, and 28% of them decided to keep eating it as they would like. Conclusion: majority of the participants did not have any knowledge on existence of arsenic in rice and those who had information about it mostly were medical students or doctors.