Oryza Sativa (Rice) Germ Oil

What Is It?

Many ingredients made from rice may be used in cosmetics and personal care products. These include various oils and fats, (Oryza Sativa (Rice) Bran Oil, Oryza Sativa (Rice) Germ Oil, Rice Bran Acid, Oryza Sativa (Rice) Bran Wax, and Hydrogenated Rice Bran Wax), and extracts (Oryza Sativa (Rice) Bran Extract, Oryza Sative (Rice) Extract, Hydrolyzed Rice Bran Extract, and Hydrolyzed Rice Extract). Various parts of rice such as Oryza Sativa (Rice) Germ Powder and Oryza Sativa (Rice) Bran, as well as isolated components such as Oryza Sativa (Rice) Starch, Hydrolyzed Rice Protein, and Hydrolyzed Rice Bran Protein may also be used in cosmetics and personal care products. The ingredients made from rice may be used in a wide varity of cosmetics and personal care products.

Why Is It Used?

When used in cosmetics and personal care products, the following functions have been reported for the ingredients made from rice.

  • Abrasive – Oryza Sativa (Rice) Bran, Oryza Sativa (Rice) Germ Powder
  • Absorbent – Oryza Sativa (Rice) Starch
  • Binder – Hydrogenated Rice Bran Wax
  • Bulking agent – Oryza Sativa (Rice) Bran; Oryza Sativa (Rice) Starch
  • Hair conditioning agent – Oryza Sativa (Rice) Extract, Hydrolyzed Rice Bran Protein, Hydrolyzed Rice Protein
  • Skin conditioning agent – Oryza Sativa (Rice) Bran Oil, Oryza Sativa (Rice) Germ Oil, Oryza Sativa (Rice) Bran Wax, Hydrogenated Rice Bran Wax, Oryza Sativa (Rice) Extract, Hydrolyzed Rice Bran Extract, Hydrolyzed Rice Bran Protein, Hydrolyzed Rice Protein
  • Surfactant – Rice Bran Acid

Scientific Facts

Oryza sativa is one species of rice. Rice is the world’s largest crop and serves as a staple food for a large part of the world’s human population. Oryza Sativa (Rice) Bran Oil is a light yellow oil expressed from rice bran.

Crude Rice Bran Oil is non-edible due to the large amounts of fatty acids and waxes present in the mixture. The fatty acids and waxes are removed to obtain refined Rice Bran Oil, which is used extensively in cooking in Asian countries.

Safety Information

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) permits Rice Bran Wax to be directly added to food. Rice Bran Wax is also on the list of indirect food additives that may be used as releasing agents. The safety of the ingredients made from rice has been assessed by the Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR) Expert Panel. The CIR Expert Panel evaluated the scientific data and concluded that Oryza Sativa (Rice) Bran Oil, Oryza Sative (Rice) Germ Oil, Rice Bran Acid, Oryza Sativa (Rice) Bran Wax, Hydrogenated Rice Bran Wax, Oryza Sativa (Rice) Bran Extract, Oryza Sative (Rice) Extract, Hydrolyzed Rice Bran Extract, Hydrolyzed Rice Extract, Oryza Sativa (Rice) Germ Powder, Oryza Sativa (Rice) Bran, Oryza Sativa (Rice) Starch, Hydrolyzed Rice Protein, and Hydrolyzed Rice Bran Protein were safe as a cosmetic ingredient in the current practices of use and concentrations as reflected in the safety assessment.

CIR Safety Review: Information on phytosterol gamma-oryzanol, found in rice were included throughout the CIR report. To facilitate the review, the ingredients derived from rice were placed into four groups, oils, fatty acids and waxes; extracts; bran, starch and powder; and proteins.

The available data, including dermal irritation and sensitization tests and mutagenicity studies did not suggest any toxicity of the oils, fatty acids and waxes (Oryza Sativa (Rice) Bran Oil, Oryza Sative (Rice) Germ Oil, Rice Bran Acid, Oryza Sativa (Rice) Bran Wax, and Hydrogenated Rice Bran Wax). The CIR Expert Panel also noted that the fatty acid composition of the ingredients in the oils, fatty acids, and waxes group included fatty acids that were previously determined safe.

Based on composition information and skin testing (irritation and sensitization tests) the CIR Expert Panel were also able to conclude that the extracts (Oryza Sativa (Rice) Bran Extract, Oryza Sative (Rice) Extract, Hydrolyzed Rice Bran Extract, and Hydrolyzed Rice Extract), bran, starch, and powder (Oryza Sativa (Rice) Bran, Oryza Sativa (Rice) Starch,Oryza Sativa (Rice) Germ Powder), and the proteins (Hydrolyzed Rice Protein, Hydrolyzed Rice Bran Protein) could be safely used in cosmetics and personal care products. The CIR Expert Panel noted that trace amounts of pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) have been reported in Rice Bran Oil used for cooking. They indicated that pesticides and PCBs should not exceed currently reported levels for rice-derived ingredients in cosmetics and personal care products.

Link to FDA Code of Federal Regulations for Rice Bran Wax

The ingredients made from rice may be used in cosmetics and personal care products marketed in Europe according to the general provisions of the Cosmetics Regulation of the European Union.

Link to the EU Cosmetic Regulation: 
http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/consumers/product_labelling_and_p…

More Scientific Information

Rice Bran Oil is made up of the following distribution of fatty acids: palmitic acid, 15%; stearic acid, 2%; oleic acid, 43%; linoleic acid 39%; linolenic acid 1%; arachidic acid, 0.5%; and behenic acid, 0.2%.

Resources

Find out more about the regulation of Food Additives by the Food and Drug Administration

Food Ingredients and Packaging: http://www.fda.gov/Food/IngredientsPackagingLabeling/default.htm

Food Contact Substances: http://www.fda.gov/Food/IngredientsPackagingLabeling/PackagingFCS/defaul…

Substances Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS): http://www.fda.gov/Food/IngredientsPackagingLabeling/GRAS/default.htm

Search the Code of Federal Regulations http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/cfrsearch.cfm

EU Cosmetics Inventory http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/cosmetics/cosing/