Now silica gel in rice pack scare
Published on: Thursday, May 28, 2015
Kota Kinabalu: A new rice scare has surfaced barely eight days after reports of fake rice tainting the local market went viral online. This time, a consumer alleged a burst silica gel pack with its content found mixed with the rice was found inside a Beras Nasional rice pack on Tuesday. Coincidentally, both incidents involved the same rice wholesaler, Tan Khien Chong, or also known as TKC.
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TKC Chief Operating Officer Chien Hung who had already lodged a report over the fake rice incident earlier said, the company is aware of the incident and had recalled the products from the market, Wednesday. "More than a hundred packets have been recalled and we have told our sellers in areas like Ranau and Kudat not to sell the rice until we can get them off their hands by Thursday," he said. Sole rice importer, Padi and Beras Nasional (Bernas) had been alerted over the matter. Chien admitted it would be hard to separate foreign objects from the rice in the processing due to the bulk purchase, normally in gunny sacks, made by the company.
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Meanwhile, a Bernas source said investigation has begun to find out how the incident happened, saying that silica gel packs are always kept in rice container shipments to keep the raw food dry and off fungi attack. Silica gel is poisonous if consumed.
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"There is a possibility the silica gel packs could have burst from the transporting side as our transportation is by a third party. "The silica gel could have been stuck on one of the rice gunny sacks.""It could also be that the items may have gone into the rice packs when the wholesaler was repacking the rice. But I dare not confirm all these," he said. According to him Bernas has no control over the quality of products once the gunny sacks are sold to the wholesalers, as the company does not have authority to regulate them. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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