Stir in Visakhapatnam over fake rice
But police and food safety officials, who acted on the complaints, found that the same brand of rice is being sold all over the city.
Visakhapatnam: Suspecting that rice grains sold in certain grocery stores were made of plastic, residents of Ekalavya Colony in Vizag city lodged a complaint with the Pendurthi police.
Several NGOs in the state have been campaigning to debunk the myth of ‘plastic rice’ but rumours are still rife and on Wednesday residents of the colony approached the police.
Inspector of Pendurthi police station J. Murali immediately forwarded the complaint to the Food Safety wing of the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) for investigation. Food inspectors visited the area and collected some samples of rice of various brands from shops selling rice and sent the samples to the Food Safety Laboratory (FSL) in Hyderabad.
Residents of the colony told the media that their children have been suffering stomach pain and health issues after consuming rice of a particular brand.
But police and food safety officials, who acted on the complaints, found that the same brand of rice is being sold all over the city. However, to clear the doubt among the colony residents, samples were sent for testing.
Food Safety Designated Officer M Srinivas said their teams have seized over 72 bags of rice from shops where the colony residents buy their rice. "We examined the seized rice and didn't find any plastic content. However, we have sent the samples for testing and are awaiting the results," he added.