Plastic rice scares Cambodian government into damage control

The Cambodian government is moving swiftly to try and shut down damaging rumours that manufacturers are mixing plastic rice with the real grain to cut costs.

Cambodia is just the latest Asian nation forced to investigate a plastic rice scare that spooks consumers and affects the economy.

A video published to YouTube over the weekend purportedly shows a factory in Vietnam producing plastic rice which is poured into large sacks destined for the market.

A worker appears to throw sheets of plastic into the production line, which is then melted and stretched into long lines of clear string.

Once chopped up and granulated, sacks are filled with the potentially hazardous substance.

In neighbouring Cambodia, authorities are ramping up testing of rice across the country in an effort to establish if anyone is poisoning the daily staple.

People who spread unfounded rumours of plastic rice production are being hit with heavy fines, Khmer Times reports.

Thailand, Indonesia and China have all faced similar plastic rice panic in the past, though there has never been any conclusive evidence to back up rumours.

Renowned myth busting website Snopes concluded an investigation into plastic rice last month, and stated the stories were simply urban legend fomented from dodgy reporting.

Legend or not, rice producing nations are highly sensitive to the reputation of a valuable export that is the daily staple across Asia.

"If someone has doubts about some rice, they should bring those sacks of rice to the Ministry of Commerce or Camcontrol to check rather than just doing a personal testing, and then posting it on social media, as this will damage the Cambodian rice market. It is a crime,” a spokesperson for Camboduia's Ministry of Commerce said.