Rinsing rice before cooking has become more popular in recent years, especially with concerns about any arsenic or pesticides on the outside of the rice. Also rinsing rice is good because it removes some of the starch from the outside of the grains of rice, so that when the rice is cooked it doesn’t become clumped together or too sticky.
However many people don’t realize that there are certain types of rice that shouldn’t be rinsed for health reasons. This includes specific types of rice that have been vitamin-enriched, because rinsing this type of ricevwill actually remove those vitamins from the surface of the rice. So if you are still planning to rinse your rice regardless, you might as well not purchase the more expensive vitamin-enriched rice.
Other than the vitamin enriched rice, all other types of rice can be washed to remove any surface contaminants from the rice. Plus it will help prevent your rice from sticking together.