NFA Bicol execs taste-test imported rice initially infested with weevil

LEGAZPI CITY – National Food Authority officials on Friday ate some of the imported rice that were fumigated and aerated for 12 days after they were found infested with weevil (“bukbok”).

They ate the rice for lunch to prove to the public that these were now safe for consumption.

Thousands of sacks of rice from Thailand were fumigated for 12 days after the Bureau of Plant Industry found that the rice was infested by weevil while inside the ship MV Emperor 1 that carried them to Tabaco City’s port.

“We need to conduct the palatability test to prove to the public that the 177,000 bags of rice that were fumigated is safe and healthy for human beings (to eat),” Henry Tristeza, director of NFA Bicol, said.

Jun Buenaflor, one of the media practitioners who tasted the newly cooked rice during lunch Friday, said: “it tastes like the commercial rice, the smell is also good.”

Meanwhile, the unloading of treated rice from Thailand was temporarily halted due to rain.

Tristeza also assured the public that once the weather improved, the rice would immediately be delivered to warehouses in the region.