What’s the problem with rice bukbok (rice weevils)?
Secretary Emmanuel Piñol of the Department of Agriculture posed this question on Tuesday as he even expressed readiness to eat rice infested with weevils.
“Ang problema lang natin diyan is kung maraming marami na yung bukbok na inuubos na nung bukbok yung bigas but it is only 10 lonely bukbok crawling over a sack of rice, so why should we alarmed about that?” Piñol said in an interview with ABS CBN News Channel.
Piñol said that rice infested by weevils “don’t even have to be fumigated” for the public to eat, but just by mere washing the affected grains.
Piñol also argued that he is a farmer and that weevils have the same effect as the black ants on food.
“Serve me that bukbok rice, I will eat it,” he said.
“I’m a farmer. Bukbok is much a reality to grains as much as black ants is to food, anong problema nung bukbok? Binubukbok naman talaga yung palay, binubukbok naman talaga yung bigas ah,” Piñol added.
National Food Authority (NFA) also earlier claimed that weevil infested rice was safe to eat after fumigation.
READ: Rice with ‘bukbok’ safe for consumption after fumigation — NFA
However, Anac-IP Rep. Jose Panganiban Jr, chairperson of the House of Representatives committee on agriculture and food, labeled the NFA’s claim as “irresponsible.” /muf
READ: Rice with ‘bukbok’ safe to eat after fumigation? Solon finds NFA’s claim ‘irresponsible’