The National Food Authority in Negros Occidental released an advisory yesterday in response to the fake rice scare that has kept the entire country on alert after the emergence of local reports of fake rice first appearing in Davao.

NFA Provincial Manager Procopio Trabaho II said yesterday that the advisory is meant to protect the health and safety of the general public in the province from the hazards of consuming the so-called fake rice reportedly circulating around Southeast Asia.

Trabaho cited the advisory in instructing consumers to purchase their rice only from accredited or licensed retailers, designated public markets, and supermarkets within the locality.

The NFA advisory said that imported rice, whether regular-milled or well-milled, should be naturally but not perfectly-colored white, shaped in long grains which are not uniform in size, and not too shiny, as consumers should avoid any lightweight and “rice” with very uniformly shaped and durably hard grains that smell like plastic.

The advisory also said that consumers should check if a layer of plastic forms on the surface of the rice when cooked and send a one kilogram sample of the purchased raw rice with suspicious features, along with information as to when, where, and from whom the rice was bought, to the nearest NFA office for scientific laboratory analysis.

Trabajo also encouraged consumers to contact the NFA to report any suspicious rice in the marketplace through Bantay Bigas Hotline at 09064363133 for mobile, 434-4954 on landline, @bigas_nfa on Twitter and Instagram, and facebook.com/NFApublicaffairs, so that the government agency can take action right away.*PSF

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