Viral Sach: Are you consuming plastic in the name of rice?

New Delhi: Rice is considered as a staple food of most of the country and is consumed in majority of the state. It is available in various qualities and kinds. One such ‘unusual’ kind of rice is creating a buzz on social media and is going viral. Social media is getting flooded with pictures and video of this ‘plastic’ rice which people are claiming is produced in China and is being consumed by majority of us unknowingly as it generally comes mixed with normal rice. As per social media claims, if one boils these rice and prepares a ball made out of it, the ball would bounce and jump like any normal ball. The matter got escalated when on June 2, a woman ordered rice and curry at the famous restaurant, Bengali sweets at Central Delhi’s Gol Market. On consuming the rice, the woman claimed that the rice being served was ‘plastic rice’. She also went ahead and demonstrated the bouncing of the rice ball. After the reports of ‘fake’ plastic rice, ABP News initiated an investigation in various cities namely Lucknow, Ahmeddabad, Rajasthan and Gandhinagar, to check out the truth behind the ‘plastic rice’. The reporter probed rice by making rice balls out of them in various cities and observed that the rice served at a local dhaba in Lucknow and Mumbai did bounce, whereas; in Jaipur and Ahmedabad, balls made from rice served at posh restaurants didn’t bounce. On speaking to an expert on the issue, it was found that it is practically not possible for a person to prepare rice from plastic since plastic cannot absorb water. He further added that the reason why few rice balls bounced and rest didn’t was because of the amount of amylose (starch) present in the rice; that is less amount of starch would lead to sticking of rice particles together. Therefore, in the investigation it came forward that the bounce in the rice has got nothing to do with them being made of plastic. Therefore, the claims being made in the viral video were false.