Thai rice confirmed to be safe for consumption

BANGKOK, July 13 (TNA) - The Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives has confirmed that Thai rice, sold on both the domestic and the world markets, is safe for consumption. Dumrong Jirasutas, Director-General of the ministry's Department of Agriculture, made the confirmation on Saturday morning during the weekly TV and radio programme of Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. Dumrong acknowledged that officially-random inspections have been conducted on Thai rice and it has been all found safe and free from chemical residue. Dumrong elaborated that officials from his department had worked with those from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in collecting rice samples from local mills and from 40 brands of rice in packaging, as well as rice prepared for exports and for local sales and they had found no chemical residue in the samples exceeding international safety standards. Meanwhile, FDA Secretary-General Dr. Boonchai Somboonsook noted that more than 160 rice samples have been collected from June 18 up till now from shopping malls and no chemical residue has been found in 107 samples so far and the inspections by the FDA are in line with those conducted by the Department of Agriculture; so, people can, thus, be assured that Thai rice is safe. The Thai authorities' assurances were made following an unproven report on social networks that Thai rice was contaminated with extra chemical residue. (TNA)