Against the Grain: Suspected ‘plastic’ rice reportedly found in 2 Hong Kong restaurants

The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) is currently investigating two cases of suspected fake rice being sold in Hong Kong eateries after diners complained the rice the ate felt like plastic!

Yesterday, footage of a woman claiming a Mong Kok restaurant served her “plasticky” rice was shared widely by Hong Kong netizens.

In the video, which the diner apparently filmed in the Grand Plaza branch of Pier 88, she said she and her dining companions had ordered a dish of grilled eel on rice, but found the texture of the rice “strange”. The woman then rolled a loose grain of “rice” against the surface of the table.

“There’s something wrong with the rice. Even though I keep rolling it, it’s not breaking. It just keeps getting longer and longer, like an elastic band,” she said.

She then tried a few other grains which were on the table, which all stretched without breaking, before rolling the “rice” back into shape between her fingers.

Pier 88’s manager reportedly told the woman that the restaurant had been ordering the type of rice used in the dish for years, but declined to confirm the brand as it was a “secret”. The customer then reported the incident to the FEHD, and samples of the rice were taken for testing. A restaurant spokesperson later told Apple Daily that they purchase rice from Him Kee Food Distribution Co. Ltd, which is supplied by China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Corporation.

The FEHD has yet to announce the test results, but said it had received no other complaints about that specific dish in Pier 88 in the past month, HK01 reports.

A man surnamed Hui, told Apple Daily that he suspected a restaurant on Queen’s Road West, Sai Wan, was using similarly… elastic ingredients after dining there last Wednesday. He ordered a bowl of steamed rice with minced pork and salted duck egg at the restaurant, but apparently found the grains tough and inedible.

Hui claims staff at the restaurant insisted that they only used “the best quality rice”, and told him they themselves regularly consumed the same rice with no detrimental effect. Regardless, Hui told Apple Daily that he felt unwell after the meal, and said it would be “extremely terrifying” if fake rice was being sold in Hong Kong.

A FEHD spokesperson confirmed they received a complaint against the Sai Wan eatery and would be following up on the case. No food-related complaints about the restaurant had been made in the past month.

A restaurant in Vancouver was accused of using rice allegedly made with plastic earlier this month. According to a video shared on social media, the rice being sold in the Canadian restaurant has a similar texture with those in the two Hong Kong cases. However, after investigation, local health authorities found the allegation unsubstantiated, the Hong Kong Economic Times reports.

Related articles:

‘Why you so stupid?’ Thais slam American woman who called Thai rice fake after she burned it
 


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