Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) – A mother and daughter in Davao City compared the fake rice they discovered to styrofoam with the consistency of chalk.
Carmencita Griño said her mother, Erlinda Falle, gave her the rice last June. When she mixed it with water, it became very hard as it cooled.
Falle said the rice was given to her by her daughter-in-law, Hannah Falle, who bought it from a retailer named Brieta in Bansalan, Davao del Sur.
After Griño posted a video of the cooked rice on Facebook and reported it to media, the National Food Authority (NFA) took samples of the cooked rice.
But NFA officials could not find any more fake rice in Bansalan.
These were some of the things that came out at the hearing on Monday (July 13) of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food, which is chaired by Sen. Cynthia Villar.
Secretary Francis Pangilinan, presidential assistant on food security and agricultural modernization, said the cooked rice was tested by NFA had contaminants. But he couldn’t say if it’s wake as the complete results of the tests had not been put out yet.
One contaminant found was dibutyl phthalate (DBP).
Health Undersecretary Kenneth Hartigan-Go, chief of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), said tests revealed three other chemicals in the rice – polyvinyl alcohol, butyl levulinate and Cedrol (sesquiterpene alcohol). These are commonly used as coating agents and flavoring.
Senior Supt. Joel Pernito, chief the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) in the Davao Region, explained how the Falle family got hold of the fake rice.
He said father and son, Cesar and his son Falle were requested by Hannah to buy rice on June 20.
Both men bought 20 kilos of rice at Noel Store in Matina, Davao City.
The store is owned by Noel Canencia.
The rice was divided and packed two plastic bags of 10 kilograms each. One was brought to Hungry Mama’s Canteen, owned by Hannah, the other to the Falle’s house, where it was cooked and consumed that day.
Jamaica Joyce de la Cruz Mantos, a service crew member of Hungry Mama’s canteen cooked the 10 kilograms of rice. She noticed nothing unusual. She was able to feed, out of that cooked rice, about 40 persons.
Pernito said the suppliers were then identified. It out the rice was well-milled and came from two local sources – one in Bansalan, Davao Del Sur, and another in Tagum City, Davao del Norte.
Pernito said the contamination of the rice seemed to be an isolated, with no other reported cases.
Pangilinan added that, after more than two weeks of daily inspections and getting more than 60 complaints nationwide, only one case turned up positive for rice with contaminants.
