Poison in your food Urea, DAP in rice

Source:

Imphal, June 18 2013: Super fine rice shipped in by Food Corporation of India and supplied to the public at subsidised rate by Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution (CAF&PD) Department is found mixed with certain substances which look like Urea or DAP (Diammonium Phosphate or Diamond in common parlance) granules.

Experts are of the opinion that consumption of Super fine rice brought from outside the State should be banned until the impurities present in the rice are verified.

Associate Professor of Entomology, CAU Kh Ibohal told that impurities which looked like Urea or DAP granules were found in PDS rice given to a household of Takyel Khongbal.

The impurities would be tested tomorrow.

PDS agent Thokchom Rajen of Takyel Khongbal took 23 bags of rice from CAF&PD and has already distributed 20 bags to people of his locality.

It was in the remaining bags that the impurities were found mixed with rice.

Rice sample has been collected from Rajen and it would be put under laboratory test tomorrow at CAU, said Kh Ibohal.

Sample of super fine rice

Saying that fishes fed with Urea die and go stale very quickly once they are brought out of water and consumption of such fishes causes many ill effects on the human body, Ibohal warned that it would be disastrous if the impurities found in rice turned out to be Urea.

It would be wiser on the part of the State Government to ban sale and consumption of imported rice until the impurities are tested in laboratory, he said.

There were instances when CAU, Imphal sent samples of imported rice having peculiar smell to laboratories based outside the State to check if the rice contained insecticide residues.

Samples of imported rice suspected to be containing insecticides/pesticides have been sent to the Lucknow based Central Research Institute as well as the Entomology Residual Analysis Laboratory of Tamil Nadu Agriculture University.

Reports are being awaited, he added.

Meanwhile, a high-ranking official of CAF&PD Department informed that DSO, Imphal West has been instructed to find out the truth and details of the report about presence of impurities/foreign particles in PDS rice.

Notably, FCI has been shipping in 7887 metric tonnes of rice from Dimapur and Silchar every month.

via NorthEast Calling - NorthEast India | India's No1 online News Magazine http://necalling.com/poison-in-your-food-urea-dap-in-rice/