VISAKHAPATNAM: As grocer Gopal was busy with his customers at Prahaladapuram on Friday morning, Digumarthi Swarajyam (40), a housewife from Aarilova, came to his shop and pestered him to take back the 15 kg rice she had purchased earlier. “I suspect that it is plastic rice, I want the cash back,” she told Gopal. Though he tried his best to convince her, the woman bluntly refused.
Queried as to what led to her suspicion, she said, “I read it in a WhatsApp update that some popular brands are selling plastic rice and I don’t want to take any risk.” The shopkeeper told that it was the fifth customer to return the rice. “So far, I have returned money to four of my regular customers who recently purchased rice from my shop. The plastic rice issue has become a big headache for us,” Gopal told Express.
In the wake of allegations in various social media platforms over retailers selling plastic rice, consumers in Visakhapatnam district are returning the stocks, being apprehensive about the quality of rice. The shopkeepers claimed that their business had come down by 80 per cent in the last three days.
“I have been trading in rice since 2014. But, I never had such bitter experience. The adverse canvassing of plastic rice through social media has taken a toll on our business. Bi-weekly, we import 1 lorry stock (100 tonnes) of fine quality rice from Peddapuram and Ramachandrapuram of East Godavari district. Since last Monday, there has been a drastic fall in the retail market business,” says K Annaji Rao, a rice wholesaler from Vepagunta.
However, the shopkeepers claim that mixing plastic rice is not a viable affair. “As per my knowledge, it is not at all profitable to mix plastic rice with the stock. I strongly believe that it is just a social media hype to scare people for no reason,” says Gopal, adding that in the wake of allegations, the traders were unnecessary going through checks by food safety officials.
Reiterating the same, district rice dealers association leader Nukaraju said, “The rice business in Vizag has come down by 80 pc and the traders have lost sales worth Rs 3 crore in the last three days.”
There is no adequate rice production in Visakhapatnam district to cater to the needs of a population of nearly 43 lakh (2011 Census) of which 22 lakh lives in GVMC limits.The rice traders procure stocks from neighboring rice producing areas. Around 300 traders in the city procure around 500 tonnes of rice stock daily and transact a business of nearly Rs 1.5 crore.
However, GVMC food safety inspector (FI) S Janardhana Rao says that no traces or plastic rice have been found so far from the samples gathered by the wing. “In the last two days, we have collected samples from various dealers and sent them to State Food Laboratory in Hyderabad for analysis. No plastic rice has been found,” he said.
Meanwhile, SV Veerabhadra Rao, Gazetted Food Inspector (Visakhapatnam) said they have seized 73 bags of rice from a wholesaler, after a customer in Pendurthi lodged a complaint. Further, five bags of rice has been seized from Makavaripalem too. “We have not found any adulteration so far. In our observation, the social media posts been have creating panic,” he said.
How to test plastic rice
Take handful of grains and add some drops of tincture Iodine to it. If it imparts a dark blue colour, be sure that they are original rice
Burn the rice grain. In case of plastic rice, it will give a typical smell which is not the original smell of starch
Put rice grains in water. If it is plastic rice, it will float on water