No plastic rice

Don’t panic, they’re only rumours: Officials

​Hyderabad: Even as the social media is abuzz with stories about the sale of plastic rice in grocery stores and use of such rice in eateries in and around Hyderabad, the Civil Supplies department on Wednesday appealed to the people not to believe in rumors.

Commissioner of Civil Supplies C V Anand said that tests were conducted on the samples collected from the complainant in the corporation’s laboratory where it has emerged that it was not plastic rice. However, the samples were sent to the State Food Laboratory for further chemical tests, he said.

Physical analysis and de-husk test was first conducted on the samples. Further the rice was soaked in water for some time. If the rice was made of plastic it would float. But no sign of floating was noticed during the tests.

Later, the rice samples were cooked and it became like paste as it usually happens during cooking of the normal rice, he said.

The tests in Civil Supplies laboratory were conducted in the presence of Quality Control Analyzer Osman Mohiuddin, General Manager Jayadev Singh, Assistant Manager, Technical G Saidulu.

The Civil Supplies Enforcement Department has collected samples from the mill on which complaint was lodged in the Meerpet Police Station on Tuesday and from the complainant. Both the samples were sent to the lab for testing, he said.

He also said the enforcement and vigilance officials of the Civil Supplies department have been put on alert to handle complaints of plastic rice.

All the employees of the corporation have been issued guidelines as to how the plastic rice looks, how to recognize it. They have also been asked to check whether such rice has been mixed anywhere. Rice millers have also been cautioned in this matter, he said.

Checks are conducted by the officials where there are doubts. It may be recalled that one Ashok, a resident of Nandanavanam Colony in Meerpet police station limits, had complained to the police on Tuesday that the rice he had purchased from a grocery store turned out to be plastic rice.

In a similar incident, inmates of a hostel located in Yousufguda also complained that the rice served to them was plastic rice. Soon, the news spread like a wild fire forcing the Civil Supplies department to swing into action.

The enforcement and vigilance officials of the department were pressed into service to collect samples of the rice from the grocery stores against which complaints were received.