NFA asks public to stop spreading ‘fake rice’ rumors

The National Food Authority (NFA) repeated on Tuesday that fake rice has not been detected in the market since 2015 and asked the public to avoid spreading rumors on social media.

For one thing, said an NFA official, creating fake rice would be a more expensive venture than cultivating real rice.

"Sa pagkakaalam ko, it's not cost-effective, it's not economically viable kasi yung resin itself, mahal siya. Plus, hindi naman pwedeng resin lang ang gagamitin mo. You have to mix that with other starch na I believe mahal din," said NFA Food Development Center (NFA-FDC) OIC Carmelita Alkuino in a report by Lei Alviz on 24 Oras.

According to the report, the center is testing 11 samples of suspected fake rice sent in by consumers, and the ones they have tested so far have proved to be real rice.

'Pwedeng tumalbog'

The NFA has fielded more than 60 complaints about fake rice since videos began spreading on social media showing people forming rice into balls and bouncing them—a practice the agency has urged the public to stop, due to food waste.

Luz Padilla, NFA-FDC Quality Evaluation Division Chief Research Specialist, explained that rice formed into balls can bounce due to the grain's high starch content.

"Dahil high starch content naman ang rice so pwede talaga natin siyang bilugin, pwedeng tumalbog," Padilla said.

"To be conclusive na it's rice we have to see the starch content which is, theoretically, it's around 70 to 80 percent," Lota Barcial, research specialist, explained in another part of the report.

NFA-FDC Physical Evaluation Section Chief Amelita Natividad added that none of the rice samples they evaluated had foul odor or taste and had the right color when cooked.

"Pwede maging creamy, white, or grayish. Dapat po walang off-odor at ang flavor ay dapat po walang off-flavor," Natividad said.

The parts of the 11 samples they surveyed, according to NFA-FDC Micro Analytical Laboratory Head Fe Urnieta, also had the irregular shape rice grains should have when observed under the microscope.

"Yung irregular, angular outline. Then we have this Maltese cross, then they clump together," Urnieta said.

The FDC will put all 11 rice samples through physical tests, including microscopic analyses, starch analyses, and sensory evaluation or cooking and tasting the grains. — Rie Takumi/BM, GMA News