Are Nigerians Buying Rice The Right Way?

How would you react to the question, are you buying the right rice? This question is pertinent as focus increasingly shifts to the quality and hygienic condition of rice as a guiding factor when purchasing it. 

When you purchase rice, your objective is to buy healthy rice. Healthy rice is safe to consume but you need to consider a few factors, especially when buying from open markets and nearby stores. 

The plethora of rice brands in the market has offered consumers a variety of choices. More than the challenge of identifying the rice is to identify the right quality.

Some are sold in loose form as seen in basins and loose containers while others are packaged.

The form of presentation whether loose or packaged in the trade impacts negatively or positively on the quality of rice. When rice is sold in the loose form, a lot of factors affect it negatively. 

Firstly, the ageing of rice in loose form which can affect its physical and chemical properties and in turn its quality is a major consideration.

Different rice brands have expiry dates which buyers of the commodities in cups, plastic containers and basins of various sizes are not aware of because it has been removed from the bags. It is therefore possible that many consumers buy rice that has expired, with the very high risk of consuming unwholesome products whose quality cannot be guaranteed and are therefore not safe for human consumption. 

Another factor is the condition of the local market where rice is sold in. When sold in open market in loose form, there are very high chances of cross contamination by other food items like meat, vegetable fruits, corn etc as all items are sold near each other.

The rice can be contaminated by stone, dust, husk and other foreign matters thereby impacting on the quality. It can also be exposed to micro-organisms, rodents, insects and other disease-causing pathogens.

While some of these contaminants may be removed during washing at home, not all of them may be removed. In recent times, where the scare of diseases has heightened, these factors are worth considering.