FAKE rice that reportedly contain plastics and harmful chemicals may not be necessarily from China, said an official of the National Food Authority (NFA).
“There are speculations that the fake rice is from China, but we don’t issue import permits for rice from China,” said NFA Information Officer Agnes Militante in an interview Tuesday.
Investigation
In Cebu, NFA 7 cannot confirm if fake rice is circulating in the province. However, Militante said the regional office already received three separate complaints for suspected fake rice, two of these were from Mandaue City and Talamban, while the other complaint was coursed through the National Bureau of Investigation 7.
The samples, according to Militante, were sent to NFA central office for chemical analysis. The results, however, have not been released yet.
To avoid the purchase of fake rice, NFA 7 has advised consumers to buy from retailers that are accredited or licensed by NFA. “You can tell if a store is accredited (because) the store displays the trader’s full name and license number,” NFA’s public advisory read.
Reputations
Militante, for her part, recommended that consumers buy rice from big retailers like supermarkets since these stores have “reputations to protect,” which means there are no or minimal chances of being penetrated with fake rice.
Signs
NFA 7 also said that based on physical appearance, rice grains that are too white, round, and uniform in shape is fake. Rice that smells like plastic and is too light when cupped is also fake.
When cooked, NFA said there is no foam left on top of the rice and that no layer of plastic is on top of the rice. When squeezed, genuine rice expels water.
If anyone suspects that the rice they bought is fake, she is advised to give NFA a one-kilo sample and report it to NFA’S Bantay Bigas Hotline 0906-4363133.
Supply
Meanwhile, Militante said Central Visayas has more than enough NFA rice supply to buffer the lean months starting this month up to October. The current inventory as of mid-July is around 900,000 rice bags at 50 kilograms each.
For this month alone, NFA 7 already sold 124,000 bags to its accredited 1,189 active retailers in Central Visayas.