REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The government has come to the conclusion that there is no synthetic rice containing plastic substances in circulation and has asked people to remain calm.

"We concluded that there is no plastic rice, so people are urged to not be restless. If they still find something suspicious, they are requested to report it to us so we can look into it. We request the public to remain calm," National Police Chief General Badrodin Haiti said at a press conference here on Tuesday.

He held the press conference together with Agriculture Minister Amran Sulaiman, Trade Minister Rachmat Gobel and Chief of the Food and Drug Supervisory Agency (BPOM) Roy A. Sparringa at the Presidential Office.

The police chief explained that the issue of the circulation of plastic rice began when a buyer reported a rice shop in Bekasi, West Java.

After the rice was cooked by her younger sibling and then eaten, it caused nausea and stomach pain and tasted stale.

Photographs were then uploaded on social media platform Facebook and sent to various e-mail addresses, including that of the BPOM. However, it did not reach the BPOM possibly because the address was incorrect.

On May 19, the rice buyer invited representatives of the mass media and reported it to the local (Bantargebang) police precinct.

The rice, including the one already cooked, was held, and the Bekasi Industry and Trade Service took the sample to Sucofindo for examination.

In addition, the National Police's Forensic Laboratory Center (Puslabfor), as well as the Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Trade and the BPOM, took the same samples for testing.

"As the test conducted by Sucofindo determined that it positively contained plastic substances, the mayor of Bekasi announced that it contained plastics materials," he pointed out.

However, the results of the tests conducted by the police's Puslabfor, BPOM, Ministry of Trade and Ministry of Agriculture revealed no plastic substances. "We assure the public that these agencies did not have the wrong samples," the police chief affirmed.

Furthermore, BPOM Chief Roy Sparringa noted that the results of his agency's tests turned out negative.

"We call on the people to remain calm. We will cooperate with regional agencies to guard and be ready to test suspicious samples of rice," he stated.

Moreover, Trade Minister Rachmat Gobel revealed that they concluded there was no plastic rice in circulation following his discussions with Malaysian and Chinese partners.

"I also asked the Chinese trade minister. There is no plastic rice," he stressed.

When questioned about why the Sucofindo test results were different, the police chief explained that it could have possibly been due to the use of different analyses methods that had different readings.

"It could have been different also because the equipment used had been contaminated. The next course of action will be discussed with respective labs," he pointed out.

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