A video footage titled "Here's proof how they’re turning plastic bag into rice" went viral on social media. The video message reads: "Rice made of synthetic materials (cellophane bags, used plastic bottles) produced in China are entering the markets. Please, inform your kith and kin and tell them to spread this news."
Rice is a very nutritious food for healthy and active lifestyles. To verify the news, Factchecker.uz carried out the fact-checking.
According to some online resources, artificial rice certainly exists and is suitable for consumption. The staple food is produced by using an equipment, called rice extruder. X
The appearance of artificially enriched rice is almost identical to ordinary rice and it is not made from plastic bags. It make this type of product we need corn, millet, wheat, oats, soybeans, starchy vitamins, and nutrients (calcium, zinc, iron, etc.).
The Korean manufacturer of rice extruder "Sunpring", says on its official website that artificially enriched rice is 5-10 times more nutritious than its natural counterpart (https://sunpring.com/product/artificial-rice-making -machine/).
The rice-like product you see in the video is a polyethylene granule. These types of chemical pellets are made from recycled polyethylene bags. (https://sgcc.uz/ru/news/view/shgkm-polyethylene-ishlab-chikarish-tsekhi-faoliyati)
They can be used:
- in the production of industrial bags for liquid packaging;
- in the production of film used for general purposes;
- in the production of gas pipes;
- in the production of large-diameter pipes designed to work under pressure;
- in the production of drainage (sewage) pipes;
- in the production of molded products (containers, boxes);
- in the production of fuel containers;
- in the production of containers used in agriculture, fuel tanks, and special containers for fish;
- in the production of industrial buckets;
- used as raw materials in the production of sports equipment and protective equipment.
The local company, "Shortan Gas Chemical Complex" LLC produces high-quality polyethylene (PE) granules that meet international and national requirements in Uzbekistan. Such pellets are in great demand in the market. (https://flagma.uz/ru/products/q=%D0%B3%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%BD%D1%83%D0%BB%D0%B0+%D0%BF%D0% BE%D0%BB%D0%B8%D1%8D%D1%82%D0%B8%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B0/
Verdict: Fake