The Big Rice lie: How dealers use perfumes to spice up cheap imported riceWomen work in rice farms at Thiba H2 Mwea section. Their prayers are that Kathioni and 7,000 other rice farmers will reap 200,000 tonnes of premium basmati (aromatic) rice. The big millers share 800,000 bags of rice (80 million kilos) while Mwea Rice Growers Society commands 200,000 bags (20 million kilos). Joseph Kinyanjui who works at Mwea Rice Mills says, “they even use artificial perfumes to scent Pakistani rice. There is an imported variety, which is scented and sold as basmati rice.” Rice traders in the areas we visited operate under the golden rule of silence, feigning ignorance of the existence of the blending dens.

Source: Standard Digital October 11, 2019 21:00 UTC