Living with White Rice

Tuesday, February 6, 2007

INCREASINGLY chemicals are becoming part of our daily fare. Today, rice on your dining table is likely to be treated with chlorine. An investigation by Tempo found the bleaching agent being widely used by rice traders in Bekasi, Karawang and Indramayu in West Java, to make their rice white.

Rice bleaching in the area has been going since the 1980s, more so after the 1997 economic crisis when consumers sought good-looking rice at an affordable price. But the profit-making motive has blinded the rice merchants into doing something thats dangerous to human health. Today, its difficult to find plain rice on the market. As a result, were increasingly getting used to living with the chemically treated varieties.

. tempo : 173518764051.

TWO weeks ago the cloudy skies over Cipinang didnt affect the hustle and bustle at the rice marketing center in East Jakarta. Traders, agents, and buyers were busy as usual in transactions. Container trucks went in and out with rice cargo destined for retail markets in and around the city.

All the rice here is of the IR 64 variety, coming mostly from suppliers in West Java, said a warehouse owner. Inside, the newly arrived rice was put through a s

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