Saudi Gazette
JEDDAH — Authorities have intensified efforts to curb the menace of food adulteration especially in rice grain, the main staple in the Kingdom — as some expatriates have been found to be actively involved in the fraudulent practice of misbranding poor quality rice.
Complaints about quality of rice have been increasing among consumers. Though import of rice has seen a declining trend in the recent past apparently due to the exodus of expatriate workers from the Kingdom yet the supply of substandard quality rice has increased.
The Kingdom is the world’s largest importer of rice, mainly from India. More than half of rice imports, especially Basmati variety and hugely popular aromatic long grain rice, are from India. Also other verities of rice grains are widely used here. On an average, the Kingdom imports a million ton rice per annum worth SR4 billion. The annual per capita consumption of rice is 45 kg.
Lower quality grain is mixed into Basmati and other branded rice sacks and are then repackaged. In some cases, Punjabi rice is being sold with some other brand names to lure Saudi customers.
Inspection teams from Ministry of Commerce and Investment have been regularly conducting raids on warehouses that store and repack rice and other food grains.
In a significant achievement, a court has found an Arab expatriate guilty of adulteration of Indian rice with other grains and also labeling with different brand name.
The ministry has said in a statement that the court fined the expatriate worker SR200,000. The court also ordered his deportation.
The ministry inspectors raided a warehouse in Hail and seized 895 adulterated rice bags weighing 10 kg each which were packed in violation of the food safety norms and were stored in unhygienic conditions. Authorities have filed a fraud case against the expatriate.
The ministry inspection teams also raided a warehouse in Bisha after receiving a complaint that a group of expatriate workers were involved in rice adulteration.
Inspecting teams seized 8 ton of loose rice that was being filled in popular branded sacks and cases were registered against expatriate workers.
