Bengaluru : After the news of fake eggs being sold at Karnataka, plastic rice has been found in malls, private shops and even in fair price shops at various places in Karnataka is a matter of serious concern as an unseen mafia is making people consume ‘poison’ in the form of food.

Praveen from Bengaluru, Ullal Road brought six kg rice from the Reliance Mart. The family members suffered from stomach ache after eating the rice. As there were rumours about plastic rice, the family members made balls from the cooked rice and threw it on the wall and ground. To their shock, the balls started bouncing back, making it clear that they had eaten plastic rice.

Praveen returned to Reliance Mart with the rice, but not finding the staff there has expressed his anger with the media.

Similar kind of development was noticed at Ramanagar Taluk. Some people who had taken rice under the Annabhagya Scheme from a fair price shop in Ramanagar also had complained of stomach ache. When they too made balls of the cooked rice, it was found that the balls were bouncing back and had plastic content in it.

This is a matter of concern as the plastic rice has reached the fair price shops too. Most of the families in India depend on the low-priced rice from the fair price shops. As one cannot make out the difference between plastic rice and the original rice, the incidents are being reported after cooking and consuming the rice.

Such complaints were also heard from Hassan’s Arasikere town, where the rice in the fair price shop was found to be plastic rice. People even staged a protest against the fair price shop at BG Hatti in Arasikere. Similar incidents were also reported from Koppal. Mobile phone clippings of videos people making balls off cooked rice and bouncing it were seen from Chikkamagalur and Kolar districts. These videos are going viral on social media.

Not differentiating between the shops, plastic rice is being sold at malls, small shops as well as in fair price shops. This is really a scary situation where people are forced to eat something which they cannot digest and might prove as hazardous for health.

Residents of these places have notified the authorities concerned about plastic rice being sold in the market even in the fair price shops run by the government. But the Food and Civil Supplies Department officers have told that after investigation, action can be taken against the fair price shops selling plastic rice, but other private shops do not come under the purview of the officers. The Health Department will have to conduct raids on these private shops to file a case against them, said Food and Public Distribution Minister UT Khader.

Thus with many food-related scares making the rounds, people are scared to buy anything from the market. There is news of plastic egg, plastic sugar and now plastic rice. Rice being the staple food of the South Indian people, the news of plastic rice in the market is scary.

But how did the plastic rice made its way into Karnataka? What about complying with standards set for food manufacturing and sale? Are there no checks before the rice makes it to the shops. Especially, the rice, sugar, grains and other items being sold at the fair price houses should go through the standard check.

But it is shocking that plastic rice is available in many districts in Karnataka and the Department concerned has no clue about it until it was telecast in the media.

The area of food safety and standard of food must be taken seriously. The root of plastic rice in Karnataka should be traced, and the government should take stern action against the people manufacturing and supplying it.

Here is how you can identify plastic rice and restrict yourself from consumption:

Take handful of rice and burn the same by using matchsticks or lighter. If the rice particles are made of plastic, then it will release plastic smell immediately after burning.

Boil rice and keep it in a bottle for 2-3 days. If the boiled rice does not get affected by fungus, then it happens to be plastic rice and not the usual rice.

Take some rice and drop hot oil on to it. If the rice is made of plastic, then it will melt in a while and stick at the bottom of the container.

Now comes the water test. Take a bottle of water a pour one tablespoon of rice and stir it for a while. If the rice floats on top of the water level, then it is plastic rice. This is because; natural rice does not float on water.

Fake rice can be identified while boiling. If the rice is made of plastic, then it will form a thick layer on the pot at the time of boiling.