Plastic Rice Triggers Panic In Telugu States, Samples Taken To Check Quality

Hyderabad: After plastic eggs, now panic has hit both the Telugu states following reports on plastic rice surfaced. Two such incidents came to light on Tuesday in Yousufguda and Meerpet.

Inmates of a private hostel at Yousufguda lodged a complaint after they found the cooked rice tasted differently on Monday night. They even claimed that the eggs bought by the hostel owner were also of plastic. In another incident, Ashok, a resident of Nandana Vanam colony said that he purchased rice from a local merchant turned out to be plastic rice.

"From the past few days our family members were having health issues like stomach pain and legs and hand pain, etc. But I realized on Monday night when I started eating the rice prepared by my wife to be plastic." Anand then lodged a complaint with Meerut polce.

Apart from this, incident of plastic rice sale in the temple town of Srisailam in Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh also created flutter on Monday. Some people complained that a merchant sold them plastic rice.

Following many complaints, Telangana State Civil Supplies Department collected samples of rice on Tuesday from the trader in Nandanavanam Colony and also from the hostel in Yousufguda and sent them for examination at a food testing laboratory. The Task Force of the department also collected samples Kukatpally, Meerpet, Saroornagar.

"We are awaiting the test findings to initiate action. The results will be out on Wednesday afternoon” said Civil Supplies Commissioner CV Anand. The rice menace all began after a person in Saroornagar area found plastic rice in his biryani, which he purchased from a hotel. When he went and questioned the hotel owner, he was attacked which triggered panic among residents claiming the sale to be true.

How To Find Fake Rice:

Experts say that it's easy to detect plastic rice. If rice is poured in a water container and falls to the bottom, it is organic rice, else it is plastic rice. Also if cooked rice is kept for a longer period, fungus get deposited if the rice is organic.

According to doctors, if plastic is consumed on sustained basis, it leads to hormonal imbalance, digestion, absorption problems, birth defects and even cancer.