Federal Government Confirms Existence Of Poisonous Rice In Nigerian Market

The Federal Government yesterday, confirmed the existence of poisonous rice in Nigerian markets.
It vowed to check its smuggling by deploying its various agencies such as Presidential Committee on Trade Malpractices, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Kebbi State government and the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) who would be working as a team to halt further infiltration of expired rice via various land borders.
The agencies at a joint media briefing yesterday in Abuja, said intelligence report revealed that rice contaminated by dirty waters of the creeks have been smuggled into various markets. The expired poisonous rice said to be dangerous to health are capable of causing chronic ailments.
Addressing the media, chairman of Presidential Committee on Trade Malpractices, Dahiru Ado Kurawa, said that President Muhammadu Buhari on realizing that Nigeria was capable of producing enough rice, made him to impose ban on the product.

Nigeria Nature Health Online's investigations reveal that these poisonous rice are toxic and hazardous to health. A bad bout of food poisoning can cause vomiting, diarrhoea and stomach cramps and put you out of action often for 24 hours. NHS Choices said other symptoms can include a lack of energy, loss of appetite, a high temperature, chills and aching muscles. In some extreme cases, the symptoms can also lead to dehydration and even death.
A 2014 report by the The Food Standards Agency showed 500,000 people got food poisoning - attributable to 13 different types of pathogens, or bacteria including E. coli, campylobacter and salmonella.

The BBC reports that around 100 people each year - mainly the young and the very old - get food poisoning so badly they can die from it.
Although some people believe the biggest food poisoning risks come from meat, people can get food poisoning from eating reheated rice.
However, experts suggest it is not the reheating that’s the cause of food poisoning - it is the way it is stored before it goes into the market.
The FSA said: “Uncooked rice can contain spores of bacteria that can cause food poisoning.“When the rice is cooked, the spores can survive. Then, if the rice is left standing at room temperature, the spores will multiply and may produce poisons that cause vomiting or diarrhoea.
“Reheating the rice won't get rid of these poisons.
“So, the longer cooked rice is left at room temperature, the more likely it is that poisons produced could stop the rice being safe to eat. A couple of weeks ago some cities in Nigeria, including Lagos, recorded an outbreak of diarrhea and cholerah which claimed many lives. Even though initial reports suggested that the outbreak could have come from unhygienic "Abacha" salad, many people are now beginning to suspect that it could have been due to the existence of these poisonous rice in the market.