Photos:- See The Plastic Rice That Is Being Sold In Nigerian Markets Due To Recession

Nigerians are responding in diverse ways to the

economic recession. We need not remind you

that times are tough and things are hard in our

society now.

Families find it hard to eat properly and those

who do spend most of their savings on food

items. The rich are angry with the economic

meltdown while the poor are crying out for help

daily.

The exchange rate has affected most things as

the prices of the cheapest materials in the

market have doubled. As if that is not enough,

inferior products have taken over the markets as

some greedy Nigerians want to make as much

as they can while selling substandard products.

It is disheartening that some people are taking

advantage of the situation of things in the

society and are cheating innocent Nigerians in

the process. Rice is a staple food in Nigeria with

almost every family eating this food once or

twice daily. This has led some unknown group of

people to start selling and distributing plastic

rice.

Plastic rice is rice that is made of synthetic

resins. In making this plastic starch, potato

starch is mixed with plastic and then steamed

with rice flavour. The plastic rice is being mixed

with good rice in order not to make people

suspicious.

In order to test the kind of rice you are buying

from the market, you can perform three basic

tests on the rice to know if it is plastic rice. The

simplest test is to take a handful of the grains of

rice and put it in a cup or bowl of water. If the

grains sink, it is good rice. However, if the grains

float, then there is every likelihood of the rice

being made of plastic.

Another way of testing to know the authenticity

of the rice product being sold in the market is by

setting fire to a handful of the grains. If the rice

smells like plastic, then you do not need any

proof that you have bought plastic rice from the

market.

You can also test for plastic rice by grinding the

rice with mortar and pestle. The powder gotten

from this action should be white. But if it is

artificial rice, there may be yellow discoloration

in product.

Eating plastic rice is dangerous as it has the

potential to cut short your lives. The best thing

to do is to avoid eating this rice and create

awareness.