BANGKOK, June 25 – Big C Supercentre and Sandee Rice gave assurances to Thai consumers that the quality of their packed rice has been strictly controlled and completely free from health-hazardous substances.
Sandee Rice is the major supplier of the grain for the hypermarket’s packed rice distribution.
Burin Tanathavornlarp, managing director of Sandee Rice Co, and Kudatarn Narkviroj, Big C Supercentre’s corporate relations director, jointly ruled out rumours in the social media about rotten rice at some hypermarkets in the country.
They said their rice packaging process was up to international standards and subject to quality checks by globally-accredited SGS laboratory analysis.
According to widespread rumour through social media, rotten rice from the government’s rice pledging programme has been packed in plastic bags and sold in the local market including at hypermarkets.
The Big C and Sandee executives took the local media to inspect their quality control and packaging processes to ensure safety for consumers.
They said it would be unnecessary for rice to be certified by the Food and Drugs Administration since the procedure of quality checks by laboratories is sophisticated and reliable.
The Thai Rice Packers Association has proposed to the Commerce Ministry in the past few months to bid for at least 300,000 tonnes of rice in the ministry’s stockpiles to be packed in plastic bags for retail sale.
The association is still waiting for the ministry’s reply on whether it would be allowed to join the bids.
