Yep, look! The plastic rice is back!

There is hardly a topic that we have reported on as often as the alleged plastic rice from China!

And thanks to Facebook's reminder function, we (not really) surprisingly received inquiries again this year as to whether this plastic rice really exists.

It's about this article, which is shared as a link on Facebook:

The fact check

There are many myths surrounding plastic rice – as well as media reports.

It's no secret that the Chinese like to copy things, but rice? After the milk scandal in 2008, food production in China became more cautious.

When we ask whether this is true about the plastic rice, we find a link to a website that claims that the Korean Times claims that even the rice is now being produced artificially...

“Potato starch is mixed with plastic (e.g. epoxy resin) and then pressed into rice grains.”

This “fake rice” is said to be rock hard even after cooking and if you eat 3 bowls of rice you are said to have already consumed the plastic content of a bag.

Rice scandal with a long tradition

Seven years ago, the term “Artificial Rice” or “Plastic Rice” appeared in various articles.

For example, in February 2011, articles appeared on Raw Story and The Mary Sue , both of which reference a website called Very Vietnam as their source. Very Vietman is no longer available and the website is for sale. Raw Story also refers to the source China's Global Times, which also no longer exists.

The Korean Times article is also from 2011.

Raw Story and the Korean Times both cite the Korean-language website Weekly Hong Kong , which in turn cites “Singapore Media” as the source. And here the trail runs into the sand. Because it is not clear who this “Singapore Media” is or was or where the official statement was made that “fake rice made of plastic was sold enormously in China's markets”.

The history of plastic rice has been circulating for four years and is sometimes more, sometimes less deformed, changed, information is suppressed, quoted without sources, quoted from one another, etc... or used as an article or hook for other things.

See you in 2015!

At the beginning of 2015, the rumors about plastic rice in Vietnam became so intense that official bodies (VFA) finally spoke up and started looking for plastic rice.

Head of the Vietnam Food Administration (VFA), Dr. Nguyen Thanh Phong finally announced that so far no “fake rice” could be found in Vietnam. Traders and consumers were nevertheless asked to report to the police or the VFA if they came across unusual rice.

And finally something was found, but in a completely different place: namely in the Philippines .

dibutyl phthalate (DBP), a chemical compound that is used, among other things, as a plasticizer for PVC and to purify gas mixtures and organic compounds, were found in a rice sample weighing 25 grams.

It sounds super dangerous at first, but we've all taken it in the form of pills. DBP is also an additive in the plastic shells of medical pills so that they first dissolve in the intestines.

No question, this additive has little place in rice, so the Philippine National Food Authority (NFA) the discovery and sent several rice samples to the Food Development Center (FDC), the Philippine Rice Research Institute (Philrice), the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) and the Department of Health (DOH).

And what results did NFA receive?

• Philrice performed DNA analysis on the sample and found rice DNA.
• IRRI said the sample was closer to rice than to sweet potatoes or cornstarch.
• RITM reported that the rice examined differed in structure and shape from normal rice, although this was probably because it had been frozen and heated several times.

The NFA ultimately testified together with the FDC that that sample actually contaminated with traces of plastic , which probably came from improper handling of the rice that was actually intended to protect the rice from contamination .

As a consequence stricter controls on the markets announced and no further contaminated rice products emerged.

And today?

Plastic rice is still described as existing in various articles.

Plastic rice is also said to have appeared elsewhere, such as in Gambia. However, this could not be confirmed .

Even videos have been circulated that claim to prove the production of “fake rice”. We won't link such videos, but we will link to the original video:

These are advertising videos from various Chinese companies that recycling machines for plastic waste.

As you can see in the video, the plastic turns into small granules that actually look a little like rice and funnily enough, the Chinese slang word for these granules is actually “plastic rice”.

The ESFA 2016 annual report

But there is still something to say...

There is an annual report from the European Food Authority (EFSA) from 2016 that actually warns about “Artificial Plastic Rice”.

What about it?

The report refers to the year 2015, it warns as a precaution (!) about plastic rice (as is the EFSA's duty) and does not serve as proof that it actually exists.

Because there is no official discovery of plastic rice, which consists of potato starch and plastic.

Result:

It has never been confirmed that plastic rice was produced, sold or even eaten.

In other places, too, it has been assumed for a long time that there is a hoax that has persisted for eight years now.

The existence of plastic rice has therefore not been proven.

At least in Europe, there has not yet been anyone who has publicly admitted to having bought plastic rice in local supermarkets.

If you still want to be on the safe side, you can try the following to check your rice:

Just test your rice yourself: If the rice grains sink to the bottom in the water, it is real rice. However, if the rice grains are floating on the surface (not just isolated grains), then the rice must contain plastic.

Alternatively, you can also experiment a little with chemistry, as Osman Mohuddin, food quality controller, clearly shows :

Take a little rice and put it in a bowl. Then add 20 ml of methylene blue, wash the whole thing with hydrochloric acid and then add 20 ml of methylene yellow. The color of the rice should now turn greenish. However, if the rice remains white, it is not normal rice.