Balinese rice vendors who received surprise investigative visits from BPOM last week can breathe a sigh of relief after a qualitative assessment of their rice samples found no trace of synthetic materials or plastic, reports Tribun Bali.
However, BPOM Bali boss, Dra Endang Widowati, told Tribun Bali on Saturday that she remains concerned with the situation. Rice is a staple food for Indonesians, and if the rice that Indonesians consume contains synthetic or plastic materials then it’s going to pose great risks to our health as it cannot be processed properly by our bodies. These free radicals can turn to diseases such as cancer, she asserted.
Chairperson of the Indigenous Indonesian Entrepreneurs’ Association (HIPPI), Suryani Motik, also shared this fear, predicting possibilities that beras plastik may have reached many regions in Indonesia, from Sumatra to Bali. According to Tribun Bali Suryani explained that the beras plastik incident has resulted due to a demand/supply imbalance with regards to rice. Because Indonesia’s demand for rice outweighs the supply available, imported rice makes its way into the country. As a result, problems like this emerge.
Suryani adds that she is trying to encourage HIPPI’s members to increase domestic rice production for the sake of national security, as well as actively market other staples so that people are aware of other alternatives to rice.
It’s difficult to imagine a nasi-less Bali, let alone a nasi-less Indonesia. Even to get to the point where other staples such as grains and potatoes are considered “proper” alternatives to rice requires doing away with the local philosophy of “belum makan nasi, belum makan“.
However, we think that the fear of beras plastik and all its dangers may drive some people to do just that.
Illustration: Flickr
