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From The Straits Times: "Fake rice made of plastic reported to have reached Asian shores but not Singapore's"

PETALING JAYA (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - The sacred bowl of rice that used to save lives could now be harmful - and even deadly.

Plastic rice laced with poisonous resin has reportedly reached the shores of several Asian nations. The rice is said to stay hard after it has been cooked.

The plastic rice, reportedly made from potatoes, sweet potatoes, with synthetic resin moulded into the shape of real rice, is said to have made its way into countries with large rural populations such as India, Indonesia and Vietnam.

Is China creating fake rice which includes inedible resin?

Andrew Grimm
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  • Also, even your source is skeptical of the claim and does not... claim it: "The news can be true or false; we don't know about it.", I've seen the same quote on every news article I checked. – Sklivvz May 23 '15 at 09:25
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    @Sklivvz The source is only skeptical with respect to whether the rice reached Malaysia, not whether China makes such rice. Only the issue of whether the rice has reached particular other countries is current news and under investigation. The part of the article about China is old news. Here is a 2011 source for the manufacture of fake rice in China containing plastic resin in a reputable paper: http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/biz/2011/01/182_80040.html – DavePhD May 27 '15 at 10:38
  • @DavePhD I'd like to see evidence of people believing the claim instead of seeing a number of news articles all citing other news articles and claiming that someone else said that. – Sklivvz May 27 '15 at 10:48
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    @Sklivvz ok, here is a more primary source: http://web.archive.org/web/20110210110944/http://www.weeklyhk.com/news.php?code=&mode=view&num=10793 and here is a site similar to skepticSE saying the fake rice story is a "fact" http://www.hoaxorfact.com/Health/fake-plastic-rice-in-china-facts.html . – DavePhD May 27 '15 at 11:43
  • They all seem to report that a Singapore newspaper said that, however the Straits Times is also secondary. With all due respect, this is *exactly* why we have this close reason :-) – Sklivvz May 27 '15 at 11:47
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    @Sklivvz the Korean-language article makes clear it is refering to PVC (polyvinyl chloride) rice. You can order it online here: http://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/simulation-rice-PVC-rice-made-in_1073513746.html. So clearly it is true that fake rice made of PVC resin is manufactured in China. – DavePhD May 27 '15 at 12:01
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    @AndrewGrimm It is clearly true in a literal sense, because you can order it online, "Specification: fake rice made in China". http://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/simulation-rice-PVC-rice-made-in_1073513746.html You need a good translation of the Korean-language original I linked above. I think it is really saying it is PVC rice, and the potatos and sweet potatos are unrelated to the rice. – DavePhD May 27 '15 at 12:14
  • A person I follow on twitter believes the article about China producing fake rice is true, and one of his followers regards it as plausible. I posted a comment at Sklivvz linking to the tweets of that person, but I've deleted it now, as I don't want to infringe that person's privacy. – Andrew Grimm May 27 '15 at 12:30
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    @Sklivvz as this is no longer current events, could it perhaps be reopened? – Ben Barden Feb 23 '18 at 18:37
  • This should be re-opened. Here is a video of how fake rice is made from garbage: https://youtu.be/ogz9n9kE_Fw. The comments were skeptical and said plastic rice is more expensive than real rice, which I also thought, but is it true? I don't know the price of rice in China. Another commenter said it was plastic pellets for recycling. – Chloe Jun 11 '18 at 16:29
  • If you want this reopened, please include a citation that matches the title or match the title to the cited claim. The title claim of *China* creating the rice does not appear in the quoted material. – Brythan Sep 29 '18 at 23:45

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