Rice is one of the world's most important food crops and more than half of the people in the world eat rice as the main part of their diets. Young rice plants have a bright green color and as the grain ripens the plants turn golden-yellow. A typical rice kernel is 1/4 to 3/8 inches long. The following is a brief explanation of the rice milling process:

Photograph (1) is a picture of rice still in its hull, this is called paddy rice. The first stage of the milling process is to remove the tough outer hulls (2) and the result is brown rice (3), or rice with the bran coats still intact. The next stage is to remove the bran coats, then rice is polished, graded and packaged for use (4). The resulting bran (5) is typically a by-product of the milling process and because of it's very short shelf almost all of the 40 million metric tons of rice bran produced each year is discarded as unfit for human consumption.

Rice bran is an incredible source of the vitamins, minerals, amino acids, essential fatty acids and antioxidant nutrients that help fight disease and promote good health. It's no wonder the healthy oil that comes from rice bran is becoming so successful at replacing hydrogenated oils containing trans fat. Research is on-going with this invaluable food source and scientists have found components critical to human health.