Nigeria has seized over 100 bags of plastic rice smuggled into the country, where prices of the staple food are skyrocketing ahead of the Christmas and New Year holidays.
[...] The rice is suspected of having been smuggled or illegally shipped in from China through Lagos port, a senior customs official in Nigeria's commercial hub told AFP.
The 50-kilo bags branded "Best Tomato Rice," had no date of manufacture and were intercepted Monday in the Ikeja area of the sprawling city, the official said on condition of anonymity.
"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," Ikeja area customs controller Mohammed Haruna was quoted as saying.
Nigeria has banned rice imports as it seeks to boost local production.
Source: teleSUR
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 24 2016, @01:37PM
A different part of the Nigerian government is saying this report is not true.
It may be that this is just a strain of rice that the locals are unfamiliar with.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-38414337 [bbc.com]
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 24 2016, @02:35PM
Or it could be propaganda in support of the rice importation ban mentioned -- spread belief that smugglers are bringing in toxic plastic rice, decrease the market for smuggled rice.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by jmorris on Saturday December 24 2016, @05:22PM
You aren't cynical enough. Better still to import it yourself, get it into distribution and let a few people die, after all they were dealing with smugglers and were scum anyway. Then make sure it gets plenty of local media coverage.
Not the worst thing a government has done. After all the U.S. government poisoned bootleg booze during prohibition to create a media frenzy about the danger of drinking the "dangerous stuff made under uncontrolled conditions".
Don't believe me, Google it for yourself. But you can start here:
The Chemist's War [slate.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 24 2016, @02:50PM
I suspect starch if it's really fake rice.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Ethanol-fueled on Sunday December 25 2016, @01:43AM
Ever use a molded mouthguard? The kind you boil for a bit and then bite down on so that it molds to your teeth and gumbs? Whatever that shit is, it's sticky after boiling. I could easily see pellets made from the clear variety, which hold their shape just enough and become sticky enough to be confused with cooked rice.
A cursory Google search reveals that boiled mouthguards are made from "thermoplastic." Sounds legit to me.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 25 2016, @08:10AM
"mouthguard" plastics aren't the sort you'd use to fake rice.
1) They are soft even at room temperature.
2) They aren't cheap plastics. They're significantly more expensive than rice: https://www.alibaba.com/showroom/thermoplastic-pellets.html [alibaba.com]
https://www.alibaba.com/showroom/price-of-silicone-rubber.html [alibaba.com]
http://www.indexmundi.com/commodities/?commodity=rice&months=60 [indexmundi.com]
http://vccinews.com/news_detail.asp?news_id=3420 [vccinews.com]
http://www.thairiceexporters.or.th/price_eng.html [thairiceexporters.or.th]
FWIW the price of most raw plastic isn't really lower than cheap rice: https://www.alibaba.com/Plastic-Raw-Materials_pid807 [alibaba.com]
Maybe scrap plastic could be cheaper, but good luck cheaply getting your "rice" white enough to pass cursory inspection: https://www.alibaba.com/showroom/scrap-plastic-price-per-ton.html [alibaba.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 24 2016, @05:06PM
That would certainly appear to be a red flag.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 25 2016, @10:42AM
http://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2057071/artificial-food-intended-display-only-say-chinese [scmp.com]
Its manufactured for display purposes.
Yes it costs more than real rice.
My guess - it was stolen and the market for fake rice is so small they couldn't fence it. So they decided to try to pass it off as a real rice on the other side of the planet where it would be hard to prosecute them.