I have not heard anything about this controversy, but I do know that arsenic is a natural compound that is found in the environment, and it is present in drinking water, leafy green plants, animal feed, and all kinds of other things.  I think the question is not that there is arsenic in something, but how much, and how much is safe for consumption.  I have yet to hear of anyone getting cancer or other illnesses traced to eating brown rice products (I work as a health information technician and I analyze a dozen radiation oncology charts daily and I have not seen a single cancer case involving a vegan or someone on a gluten free diet that might consume more rice products).  A majority of cases I have seen are people who happen to eat a standard american diet or have hormone positive cancers or are smokers/exposed to smoke, or it is a genetic type of cancer.  I see the nutrition data of many patients as well btw as nutrition has to be monitored in these patients. 

Also, it might not be the products themselves as it is the contamination with pesticides and herbicides in commercial foods, including fresh fruits and vegetables not grown organically as well as farm animals etc. Commercially grown almonds are also notoriously known for some horrible chemicals in them due to pesticides.  Always choose whole raw organic if you are going to consume almonds regularly.  However, even organic food is not safe because you can't always control how the pesticides and other wastes get from farms to ground water and streams and lakes.  In fact up where I live we are fighting to keep a particular type of mine from being built and used near a pristine wilderness area.  This type of mine is known to cause environmental damage.  But money and corporate interest always wins...sighs.  I started my own garden this last year and grew my own vegetables, but guess what?  All summer long planes flew over our city spraying pesticides that rained down on the land.  So much for that.  Unless I build a green house.  I am not going to go crazy avoiding foods right and left to try to avoid contamination with something.  I do keep my diet as unprocessed as possible, and my only sweeteners used are locally made maple syrup, occasional agave, stevia (I grew my own stevia leaf fresh herb last summer), and very occasionally for baking I use a fair trade certified non bone char processed sugar from the bulk bin at a local Whole Foods Coop.  I think I used brown rice syrup a few times but I don't keep it around.  I have eaten cliff bars on occasion but I stopped due to soy content and I am trying to keep soy out of my diet as much as possible due to thyroid issues.

I also think, now that I have checked out this "controversy", that this is another scare tactic directed towards those eating a more plant based diet.  Brown rice products replace meat and dairy in some ways and those industries are threatened by this (as they are by the rise in popularity of plant milks and the fall in sales of regular milk).  They are still powerful industries and they will do anything to scare people away from alternatives.