Sampling project finds Derby clear of fake rice
Plastic rice is believed to have been imported to the UK from Asia including China, India, Indonesia and Vietnam and is being sold as real rice.
Derby City Council Trading Standards took samples and tested them but found none contained plastic rice.
Fakir Mohamed Osman, principal trading standards officer, said: “We work closely with the Food Standards Agency on a number of projects to ensure that consumers in Derby are protected from potentially dangerous food products. We’re pleased to report that no fake rice has been found in Derby as part of our sampling project.”
The rice is produced using potatoes, sweet potatoes and plastic. It is formed by mixing the potatoes and sweet potatoes into the shape of rice grains before adding industrial synthetic resins.
It does not behave like normal rice - remaining very hard even after it has been cooked, so could be a choking hazard for consumers, especially young children.
Tests have confirmed the synthetic resins and plastics used in making it are harmful.
The Food Standards Agency said: “Plastic rice was a potential emerging risk that was on the radar early last year, and we therefore included it as one of the priorities for 16/17 sampling.
“However, we are not aware of any instances of plastic rice incidences on the UK market.”
