Plastic Rice in Circulation; Seized by Customs

Nigerian customs officials have reportedly confiscated more than 2.5 tons of plastic rice, which is believed to have been smuggled into Nigeria from China.

Customs officials have also arrested one suspect in connection with the massive haul of 102 bags of plastic rice – this sort of rice were found to be very harmful and dangerous to human consumption.

The plastic rice are being marketed in bags labelled “Best Tomato Rice” the rice had no date of manufacture or any sort of imprint description whatsoever.

According to Lagos customs chief, Haruna Mamudu, it was likely that the plastic rice might’ve been circulating in the Nigerian market prior to the run-up to Christmas, stating that the product would have severe health implications if it had been consumed by ignorant Nigerians.

“We have done a preliminary analysis of the plastic rice. After boiling, it was sticky and only God knows what would have happened if people consumed it,” he said.

Following the skyrocketing of prices of many popular Nigerian staple foods due to the unending inflation, a 50kg bag of rice now sells for at least 20,000 naira (£51), this price is more than double the price of rice in December last year.

The Nigerian media had cried foul over the circulation of fake rice (plastic rice) being found in several market places since the middle of November.

A few Nigerian media Bulletins had posted advice on how to spot the fake rice; one of the Bulletin reads:

“Get a lighter and burn a handful of rice. If it catches fire and smells like burnt plastic, you have fake rice,”

Hopefully, Nigerians will be smart enough to avoid this harmful product called “plastic rice”.

Kingsley Ukpai

I write, I write and I keep writing... Most importantly, I make sure everything I write makes sense!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *