Alleged fake rice reported in Quezon City, NFA to conduct test

Sarah Centeno went straight to the barangay hall in Commonwealth, Quezon City to complain about the supposed fake rice she bought from a nearby market.

In a report by Cesar Apolinario on "State of the Nation with Jessica Soho" on Friday, Sarah brought one kilo of rice for barangay officials to see that the rice was fake.

Sarah showed how the rice seemed to be made of rubber.

"Wala ayaw talaga nilang kainin... Ako hindi ko na kinain," Sarah said. "Iba 'yung lasa niya, hirap silang nguyain... ganon."

Meanwhile, the seller insisted that the rice, which came from Bulacan, was not fake.

The National Food Authority (NFA), according to the report, is set to conduct a test on the supposed fake rice.

"We have yet to get the sample of that rice para maipa-test namin sa aming technical people sa Food Development Center (FDC) namin," said Director Marietta Ablaza, NFA Spokesperson.

In 2015, there was also a report on fake rice in Tanauan, Batangas. However, NFA found out, after a series of tests, that it was not fake.

There was also a similar incident in Davao City. According to the inter-agency task group that investigated the incident, the rice could just have been "mishandled" and may have been inadvertently mixed with chemicals.

The quality of rice also depends on the variety.

There were earlier reports of smuggled rice coming from India, Indonesia, and Vietnam which is the country's major source of imported rice.

According to the group Samahang Industriya sa Agrikultura, fake rice is made of potatoes and sweet potato or kamote that is mixed with synthetic resin or plastic.

Even after boiling for some time, this kind of rice does not soften.

The NFA reminded that there should be a series of tests to prove if the rice is fake or not.

Ablaza added that,"Kailangan may mga testing na ginagawa. Hindi lamang pwedeng naked eye lamang ang nakakakita noon, kung may mga ginagawa pang testing, mga solution na inaapply para makita kung talagang fake rice 'yun o hindi."

However, in 2015, government agencies declared there is no fake rice in the Philippines. — Anna Felicia Bajo/BAP, GMA News