Press Digest - Selling 'plastic rice' not a profitable business

THE chances of fake or plastic rice being sold in the local market are not high given that the prices of rice in Malaysia are among the cheapest in the world.
Stating this in a report in Sin Chew Daily today, Malaysia Rice Wholesalers Association president Ng Chee Len said there is simply no profit to make from selling fake rice in Malaysia.
He pointed out that based on the current prices, fragrant rice is retailed at between RM2 and RM5 (for the best imported ones) a kg, whereas sweet potatoes, one of the ingredients reportedly used to make fake rice, fetches RM6 a kg, making it not lucrative to pass fake rice off as the real stuff.
Nevertheless, he said there are simple ways to identify fake rice, including soaking it in water as plastic rice would stay afloat.
"Of course, it is not easy to tell the differences between real rice and fake rice with the naked eye. Consumers can spot the differences in shape between the two with a magnifying glass," he said, adding that not all the grains of real rice are of the same shape and size, which is the case with manufactured plastic rice.
Asked to comment on reports that rice sold at a hypermarket in Johor Baru could be fake, Ng said such incidents may have happened in other countries but as far as he knew, nobody would want to "market" plastic rice in Malaysia due to the low profit margin.
Consumers can determine if their rice is fake by carrying out any of the simple tests below:
>> The fire test – get a lighter and burn a handful of rice. If it catches fire and smells like burnt plastic, it is fake rice.
>> The mould test – boil the rice and leave it in a warm place. If mould does not appear in a few days, the rice is fake.
>> The boiling test – observe the rice while boiling. If it starts forming a thick layer at the top of the pot, it is plastic rice.