Many Brits enjoy one Thief Drunken white basmati piles served RiceIts delicate aroma balances the heat of the dish. But some stop to think about a long journey of grains. From the areas of paddy in India and Pakistan, through regional markets and rice mills, then the Britain matured in the silo for a year before being sent to bulk in Britain.
It then passes through one of the 16 processing sites in the country before reaching supermarket shelves. Britain imports around 250,000 tonnes of basmati rice every year – it is one of the largest markets in the world.
In this summer, consumers got a glimpse of what happens when that supply chain goes wrong. Four people were arrested in late July when inferior rice was passed by investigators as a famous Basmati brand.
The National Food Crime Unit exposed the fraud when the tests showed the wrong type of rice inside the premium-brand packet. Operation started LesterWhere the police suspected a person to rebuild ordinary rice in a fake basmati bag. There were three more arrests in London.
Basmati is a prestigious grain, which is precious for its nutritious taste and fragrance like popcorn. With Jasmine from Arborio, Thailand and Italy, it sits at the top of the special rice market. When shopkeepers buy a packet of basmati, they expect quality. If it decreases, they can feel deception and think twice about buying that brand again.
To prevent this, Britain conducts strict rules under basmati practice. The code determines which varieties can be legally called basmati, how they can be mixed and which levels of non-basic grains are tolerated.
A packet should not exceed another 7% of another rice variety. It is a figure reduced by 20% two decades ago, but it cannot be reduced further due to the realities of handling multiple varieties in large mills.
This code was agreed by the Rice Association and the British Retail Association, and it applies throughout Europe. When exporters in India and Pakistan develop new basmati varieties, samples are sent to Rice Association for approval.
There is an important tool in implementing these rules DNA testEach grain carries a genetic fingerprint that can confirm whether it is one of the approved basmati varieties.
Public analyst laboratories regularly test the shipments entering the UK and the European Union. The Food Standards Agency (FSA) also conducts an annual survey of randomly purchased products from retailers.
The current DNA test for basmati authentication was developed through cooperation between my colleagues and Bangore University, FSA and public analysts.
About the author
Catherine Steel is a senior lecturer in sustainable crop production at Steel Bangore University.
This article was previously published by conversation and was reinstated under a Creative Commons License. read the Original article
We profiled hundreds of rice varieties and continued to refine the markers used to identify Basmati. Before approved the method, our team conducted blind tests of results from known spike mixture of grains in various laboratories to ensure reliable results.
A centuries -old problem with modern costs
Food fraud is not new. For centuries, dishonest traders have replaced cheap goods or misleading products.
While swaping rice is less harmful than food with toxins, it still matters. Consumers are being cheated, brands suffer iconic damage and are lost by rules. The bets are more because the UK rice industry is close to £ 1 billion per year.
Every time the grain passes from one businessman to another, there are points of vulnerability. We cannot assume that all this happens abroad. Economic pressure can make the problem worse. As the UK experiences economic development, food crime opportunities may increase.
Fake is easy to identify the use of DNA testing, when known mixtures of varieties are further introduced to the food chain. It is possible that some less famous brands of rice sold in the UK may contain varieties that are not listed in basmati code of practice. These can easily slip through DNA tests as the complex mixture can be made to make all the correct molecular signatures.
Nevertheless, the food sold in the UK is the most closely regulated in the world due to the work done by the FSA. His National Food Crime Unit leads the fight against food crime, as is exemplary from the recent case of fake basmati, but consumers should be alert because they are still deceitful. This may include poor printed packaging labels, misples, broken seals and careful pricing. Because if the price looks great to come true, it is probably.