Chennai: Rice allegedly made of plastic is not being sold in Tamil Nadu, food minister R. Kamaraj asserted on Thursday amid reports that “plastic rice”, a hoax that was created on social media platforms, has found its way in southern states.
The minister also allayed apprehensions of the people as speculation mounted that the non-existent “plastic rice” has invaded the rice market in the state as well.
“Price of the rice distributed through ration shops in Tamil Nadu is one of the lowest in the county and there is no chance of adulteration when it comes to rice in the state. Not even a single incident of plastic rice being sold in Tamil Nadu has been reported,” Kamaraj told reporters here on Thursday.
“But if it comes to our knowledge that plastic rice is being sold in Tamil Nadu, strict action will be taken against them,” he asserted.
Kamaraj’s statement comes a day after the Telangana Civil Supplies Department termed “plastic rice” as fake news created on social media platforms like WhatsApp and YouTube.
The department also said preliminary test reports of samples that were sent to labs concluded there was no plastic in the rice that were examined.
The rumours of ‘plastic rice’ from China being sold in India began circulating on the internet seven years ago. Videos showing what happened to such rice when it was cooked attracted attention. It turned out that plastic rice grains were made for demonstration.
Several photos and videos on YouTube and WhatsApp showed people rolling rice made of plastic into a sphere and bouncing them like a ball.
