Look out for plastic rice, cabbage

ON Friday, pictures surfaced on social media of plastic rice which was allegedly bought at an East Coast Demerara supermarket.
When contacted for a comment on Saturday, Director of the Government-Food and Drug Analyst Department, Marlan Cole, reserved his comments on the presence of plastic rice here.

He noted however that he was not aware of any samples being taken to the unit, adding that there is no standard or specification to determine if rice is made of plastic.
In May, the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) noted with great concern the presence of video recordings being circulated of plastic rice and clarified that there has been no confirmation of plastic rice on the Guyanese market.
The homemade video recordings which were posted on social media, alleging to be plastic rice is labelled as “Product of Guyana”. The case involved a video recording emanating from Trinidad and Tobago of packaged rice labelled “Product of Guyana,” packaged for Naisa Brand Products Ltd. Trinidad.”

The GRDB stated categorically that no rice mill in Guyana produces artificial rice, and expressed grave concern about such rice being labelled “Product of Guyana.”
Last December, after temporarily suspending clearance of rice entering its territory, the Jamaican authorities allowed clearance of the product, but only those shipped from Guyana or Suriname.
According to reports, there is a large-scale production of rice made from plastic that is being shipped worldwide.
In the manufacturing process, the plastic rice is made by mixing potatoes, sweet potatoes and plastic. The rice remains hard, even after being cooked and the soup forms a plastic sheath on its layer.

And with reports emerging in Jamaica, that the product has found its way on shelves in shops and supermarkets, authorities there ceased clearance of all rice.
Meanwhile, a local consumer is concerned about the state of vegetables on the local market after she bought what she initially thought was cabbage.
Last Tuesday, the Bagotstown, East Bank Demerara woman bought the product at the Stabroek Market and when she was preparing the vegetable to be cooked, it was observed to be stretching and smelt of plastic.

When placed in a pot, the ‘cabbage’ was in a ‘paste’ state and the woman later threw away the product.
She plans to revisit the vendor and report the matter to the authorities.
The National Herald of India reported earlier this month of a growing scare over plastic food with many social media videos making rounds for the past few years on how ‘plastic rice’, ‘plastic egg’, ‘plastic cabbage’ and several other plastic food items have entered the consumer market.
There are hundreds of videos on YouTube that demonstrate how to identify plastic food items.