The Plastic rice rumour that spread like wild fire in Sri Lanka has started spreading in India too. Moreover there are allegations of plastic sugar too.
The Southern Indian states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telengana have been prone to such allegations of plastic rice and plastic sugar. Furthermore there are rumours about plastic eggs and adulterayed milk too. Over 30 people have been arrested for spreading rumours.
However Indian media reports have oitlined five methods to identify plastic rice or other plastic food items.
Here are the 5 ways to identify ‘plastic rice’
• Drop a tablespoon of raw rice into a glass of water and stir it for some time. If the rice float at the top then it is considered as plastic rice, because organic rice doesn’t float on the water.
• Take a handful of rice and burn it. You will smell plastic if it is not organic rice.
• If the rice starts forming a thick layer at the top of the vessel while boiling, it’s ‘plastic rice’.
• Drop some rice into very hot oil. If it’s plastic rice, it will melt and stick together at the bottom of the vessel.
• If cooked rice is kept for a longer period, fungus get deposited if the rice is organic. If mold does not appear, then your rice is fake.
• According to doctors, if plastic is consumed on sustained basis, it leads to hormonal imbalance, digestion, absorption problems, birth defects and even cancer. Be careful!
Hyderabad:
Several incidents of sale of plastic rice shocked citizen of Hyderabad on Tuesday, prompting police to issue an appeal for calm in Hyderabad. Over 30 people were arrested after complaints of sale of plastic rice, plastic eggs and adulterated milk.
The first incident of ‘plastic rice’ surfaced at a private hostel in Yousufguda where inmates complained that the cooked rice provided to them Monday night was plastic rice as it tasted differently.
In another incident in Meerpet on the city outskirts, a citizen complained that the rice he purchased from a local merchant was plastic rice.
Rumours of alleged sale of plastic rice from grocery shops caused jitters among the people of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
Bengaluru:
After plastic rice that was being sold in markets in Uttarakhand’s Haldwani, a probe has been ordered after plastic sugar flooded the Bengaluru markets.
Plastic sugar has created a panic among Bengaluru residents and they are now exercising caution while buying the commodity in the city.
A probe has been ordered to find out how sugar was adulterated. After plastic rice and eggs, plastic sugar has flooded the Karnataka markets.
In a week, two incidents of plastic food has been reported from Gadag and Tumkur.
Compiled from Media Reports