In response to persistent rumors of rice in Cambodia being adulterated with rice-like plastic pellets, the government announced yesterday that it would boost testing of rice across the country, and threatened to take legal action against any unsubstantiated claims. Soeng Sophary, spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce told Khmer Times yesterday that rumors have been ongoing for over a year, but that they have never proven to be true.
 

“Our Camcontrol officers have already checked and tested and there is no plastic rice in Cambodian markets,” Ms. Sophary said. She said that such rumors hurt not just Cambodian rice exports, but the entire rice sector, as people’s confidence in what they are buying diminishes. Therefore, the government will take action against anyone saying that they have found plastic rice before the products have been tested by officials.
 

“If someone has doubts about some rice, they should bring those sacks of rice to the Ministry of Commerce or Camcontrol to check rather than just doing a personal testing, and then posting it on social media, as this will damage the Cambodian rice market. It is a crime,” she stressed.   Stories about plastic rice being sold in Cambodia first surfaced last July, after a local reporter claimed to have been told about it by a rice broker, and subsequently cooked some for his family.

 

read more http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/31470/gov---t-acts-on-plastic-rice/

 

 

-- © Copyright Khmer Times 01/11

Given low price of rice these days, seems plastic rice might be more expensive. Maybe Thai farmers should grow plastic rice so less likely to rot in warehouses during next attempt to defy economic reality.

I'll bet it tastes better and no diabetic spike .