Even as several videos are doing the rounds in social media with individuals claiming that plastic granules were being mixed with rice, there has been no conclusive evidence to suggest anything of this nature.
Sources in State Public Health Laboratory (SPHL), Kohima, the only food laboratory in the State, told Nagaland Post that they had received rice sample on Thursday and initial tests have started. The matter has been taken on priority and the sources hoped that the tests would be completed at the earliest.
Designated officer and Licensing Authority, Food Safety Dimapur, Samuel Zehol also confirmed that a sample of rice has been sent for laboratory analysis to SPHL to ascertain whether the mixture contained plastic granules along with rice.
However, as the lab results were still not out, he said it would it was too early to comment anything.
As per the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, food analyst should give test report within 14 days from the day of receipt of food sample for analysis.
Zehol hoped that due to public pressure, the results could be out early. He also requested everyone not to be misled by such videos and have faith on the lab results. He said the, Food Safety authorities had received several complaints from people in the past few years alleging plastic rice and plastic eggs. He, however, termed all such complaints as baseless after lab tests confirmed these were false allegations.
Meanwhile, commissioner of police (CP) Dimapur, Rothihu Tetseo had told this newspaper that investigation was underway. He commented that the chances of plastic granules being mixed with rice, as alleged by an individual on social media, were highly unlikely since mixing plastic granules with rice would require complex machines. CP, however, admitted that there was more likelihood of adulteration by mixing low quality rice with high quality for making profits.
On the other hand, a rice retailer from Dimapur too confirmed that that there was very remote chance of the allegations being true, though he admitted that mixture of two qualities of rice was highly possible.
It may be recalled that after a video went viral in social media, where an individual was seen alleging that a godown at Nahabari, Dimapur had stocked plastic rice mixed with genuine rice, similar videos from other districts with similar claims began doing the rounds, creating panic among the consumers.