Actual rice varieties must be mentioned on rice bags
The secretary said rice can be polished to a maximum of 8%, but rice is being polished as much as 30%
The government is formulating a policy to make it mandatory for businesses to mention the varieties of rice on their bags for marketing, says the food ministry.
Food Secretary Mosammat Nazmanara Khanum made the remarks on Monday in reply to a question from journalists about the "Miniket variety" at a Bangladesh Secretariat press conference.
"We have done a study and found that the fine rice produced by polishing other rice varieties is called Miniket. That's why we're making a polishing policy," she added.
Apparently millers are marketing the BR28 or BR29 varieties of rice as Miniket with the native variety of rice not coming up in the brand name. Due to more polishing, nutrients are also diminished.
The secretary said, in general, rice can be polished to a maximum of 8%, but rice is being polished as much as 30% and is being released in the market as Miniket, which is a nutrition risk.
"We are trying to make, whatever the brand name of the rice, the name of the rice variety must be written on the bags," he said.
Food Minister Sadhan Chandra Majumder said there is no rice called Miniket or Nazirshail. The fine rice that is being eaten is mostly converted from two types of rice, namely Zirashail and Shampa Katari.
"They are selling both BR28 and BR29 as Miniket," he added.
