'Plastic rice' seized in Nigeria

"Best Tomato Rice"

1 - 4 of 4 posts

robert99 Sweden • Posts: 1360

1 22 Dec 2016

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-38391998
Whoever made this fake rice did an exceptionally good job - on first impression it would have fooled me. When I ran the grains through my fingers nothing felt out of the ordinary.

But when I smelt a handful of the "rice" there was a faint chemical odour. Customs officials say when they cooked up the rice it was too sticky - and it was then abundantly clear this was no ordinary batch.

They've sent a sample to the laboratories to determine exactly what the "rice" is made of.

They are also warning the public not to consume the mystery foodstuff as it could be dangerous.

Fake food scandals are thankfully rare in Nigeria when you compare it to countries such as China.

The big scandal here is fake pharmaceutical drugs that kill a huge number of people every year.

A total of 102 sacks, each containing 25kg (55lb), was seized.

robert99 Sweden • Posts: 1360

2 23 Dec 2016

Jeez this is everywhere! Just search for fake rice in youtube or google for scary results!

Even fake noodles see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7kNKffTK0A

robert99 Sweden • Posts: 1360

3 27 Dec 2016

Nothing new huh? https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/07/fake-food-scandal-revealed-tests-products-mislabelled
Saturday 8 February 2014

Consumers are being sold food including mozzarella that is less than half real cheese, ham on pizzas that is either poultry or "meat emulsion", and frozen prawns that are 50% water, according to tests by a public laboratory.

The checks on hundreds of food samples, which were taken in West Yorkshire, revealed that more than a third were not what they claimed to be, or were mislabelled in some way. Their results have been shared with the Guardian.

Testers also discovered beef mince adulterated with pork or poultry, and even a herbal slimming tea that was neither herb nor tea but glucose powder laced with a withdrawn prescription drug for obesity at 13 times the normal dose.

A third of fruit juices sampled were not what they claimed or had labelling errors. Two contained additives that are not permitted in the EU, including brominated vegetable oil, which is designed for use in flame retardants and linked to behavioural problems in rats at high doses.

robert99 Sweden • Posts: 1360

4 1 Jan 2017

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-38467242
Lab tests on a consignment of rice seized by Nigerian customs officials show that the product is "contaminated" but not plastic, the National Agency For Food and Drugs (Nafdac) says.

The rice contained bacteria "above permissible limits", a senior Nafdac official said.

Tests on samples of the rice showed that it was "unwholesome for human consumption", exceeding the maximum limit for bacteria including "Coli form", Nafdac said in a statement.

The Nigerian customs service, speaking at the same press conference, said that it had acted on "credible intelligence" that "large consignments of plasticized rice were.... to be shipped from the Far East to Africa".

Regardless of the outcome of the lab tests, intelligence still indicated that "several metric tonnes of expired and dangerous rice are still lying in wait at warehouses in neighbouring countries", with the Nigerian market the ultimate destination, customs chief Ibrahim Ali told media.

(This is probably destined for pet food - you've been warned pet owners!)