Dubai: Food safety authorities in the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment assured residents on Wednesday that there is no need for alarm amid false online reports that rice is mixed with bits of plastic.
According to Majd Mohammad Al Herbawi, director of the Food Safety Department at the ministry, all rice in the UAE market is “tested to verify its compliance” with food consumption regulations in place to ensure safety of rice.
Following Tuesday’s rebuke by food control authorities in Abu Dhabi and Dubai of a social media video purporting that rice was contaminated with tiny bits of plastic, the Environment Ministry reasserted that rice in circulation is safe.
“In order to verify the safety of rice grains, a multitude of tests are carried out such as the identity card, the validity date and packaging materials,” the ministry stated.
The latest word from the government was heartily welcomed by Sumant Aggarwal, general manager of Gautam General Trading, on Wednesday whose popular long-rice product Gautam XXL was shown in the social media video.
In an interview, Aggarwal said his offices received a flurry of phone calls from longtime customers who have used the Gautam XXL rice since it was first introduced to the UAE from India in 2005.
“This is not helping, it’s creating a problem,” he told Gulf News. “We want to tell people that our rice is pure, natural and does not contain any plastic.”
Dozens of calls from worried customers is indicative of how widespread the online video has reached UAE residents since it first began circulating on Monday, he said, starting first in the Northern Emirates and then eventually making its way to Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
“I now have customers all over the UAE calling my sales team,” said Aggarwal whose firm has 100 employees in offices in Dubai as well as a large warehouse in Dubai Investment Park.
Aggarwal said his company is speaking with authorities in an attempt to determine the source of the video and he did not rule out whether his rice product was intentionally shown in the video to smear Gautam XXL rice which has enjoyed a 50 per cent increase in sales in the last two years.
“When our flagship product gets involved in a rumour like this. it is very serious,” he said.
