Globalisation is globalising everything in Uganda. This is not surprising. Apart from being a part of the global village, which is diminishing, Uganda was the first country in Africa to declare globalisation as its pathway to development way back in 2000. Is it really true that there is a threat of plastic rice and plastic eggs in Uganda?

Despite little evidence that it’s a widespread problem, rumours of “plastic” rice being sold in Africa and elsewhere persist on social media – driven in particular by viral videos, which show bouncing rice balls (Anisa Subedar, 2017). The rumours spread in Senegal, The Gambia and Ghana – and reached such a pitch that the Ghana Food and Drugs Authority decided to carry out an investigation. The rumours have also been spreading in Uganda and Kenya that both plastic rice and plastic eggs are on sale in the two countries. Talk of globalised rumours! It is indeed one of the misuses of social media.

Media in Singapore reported that Chinese companies are mass-producing fake rice made, in part, out of plastic. Apparently, the rumours, originated in China and were circulated on social media since about 2010 of plastic rice being manufactured and mixed in with the real rice supply in order to trick consumers.

The rumours were originally prompted by “fake rice” scandals, although they didn’t involve food made entirely out of plastic The rumours were further compounded when a Chinese restaurant association official warned that eating three bowls of “plastic rice” was the equivalent of eating one plastic bag (Anisa Subedar 2017). The story reached social media in Africa by 2016 when Nigerian customs authorities confiscated 2.5 tonnes of rice. Nigerian customs officials initially claimed that the rice was plastic – but were later forced to backtrack when the country’s health minister said there was no evidence for the claims.

One thing is true. If there can be fake rice and fake eggs, there can also be fake water melon, fake Avocado, fake banana, fake mango and fake everything which could find their way into supermarkets and markets as unscrupulous people try to maximise dishonest income from unaware customers. And there are unscrupulous people everywhere on the globe; not only in China.

To defeat them, we must be aware enough to distinguish natural foods from unnatural foods. When you go to the supermarket or market don’t just throw the fruits in the bag. Examine them carefully. You should know how a natural fruit looks like. You should also know how a GM fruit looks like. You should then be able to distinguish natural fruits, from GM fruits, from fake fruits.

In order to improve public awareness and dispel rumours about synthetic rice, Dr Nanung Danar Dono, vice chair of the Universitas Gadjar Mada (UGM) Halal Centre, clarified the matter. He said:

“If the rice were truly made from plastic, expanding or transforming into cooked rice when steamed would be impossible. Plastic polymers only transform into hot plastic when heated or steamed. They might shrivel or shrink if exposed to excessive heat, but they wouldn’t expand. So, the same applies to commercial plastic rice. If it does exist when heated, it would only turn into hot plastic rice, not cooked rice.”

Dr Nanung Danar Dono continued:

“If someone can mould rice into a dense ball that can bounce when thrown, it doesn’t necessarily indicate that the rice is made of plastic. Instead, it suggests that the rice contains a high level of non-starch polysaccharides (NSP) or non-patent carbohydrates. This is especially true for amylopectin and amylose content. Rice varieties with high amylopectin and amylose content include glutinous or sticky rice. He clarified further, “fake rice, eggs, fish (tempura), cabbage, and vegetables exist in Japan and China. However, these products are used merely as display items for restaurant menus and are not intended for consumption. In Japan, China, and Thailand, many restaurants display these products in front of their food outlets. These are just examples for various menu items sold, not for consumption by the buyers.”

What about plastic eggs? It is a fake story. Plastic eggs for consumption do not exist because there is no technology to create a plastic egg that looks exactly like a natural egg. Consuming plastic eggs, which are artificially constructed using a variety of chemicals and non-food materials, poses several health risks that should not be underestimated. Unlike real eggs, which are a natural source of protein, vitamins, and minerals, plastic eggs lack any nutritional value (EGGOZ, 2024). Plastic eggs are primarily made from substances like gelatin, alginate and artificial colours and additives. The health risk associated with these ingredients is a major concern.

EGGOZ (2024) has advanced five ways you can separate an artificial egg from a natural egg: appearance differences, textural differences, behaviour in water, identifying unusual sounds and observing yolks and whites:

• Plastic fake eggs often have a bit shinier appearance, and this shininess tends to be more uniform across the egg
• The shell of a fake egg feels a bit rougher and may lack the natural porosity of a real egg’s shell
• Real eggs usually sink and lie flat on their sides, while fake eggs might float or behave unnaturally in water
• Real eggs typically only make a sound if they are old and the yolk has loosened. Shaking a fake egg might produce a noticeable sound due to the movement of liquid inside as water overflows from the solid agent used in making the fake egg.
• When you crack open a fake egg, shortly after opening, the egg yolk and egg white will tend to melt together because, in fake eggs, both components are made from similar raw materials and lack the natural structure of real egg contents.

Therefore, while the Chinese might be threatening us in other ways, such as pushing us deeper into the debt trap because of their incessant loans to the government of Uganda, and also by their rapidly rising population in Uganda, plastic rice and plastic eggs are not really part of the Chinese threat. In any case as an industrial giant, China would not undermine herself by flooding the market in Uganda with plastic rice and plastic eggs.

You could probably accuse the Chinese of trying to ‘Chinise’ Uganda wth their language like the English Anglicised Uganda with their English Language. Or else, you might accuse them of in future imitating their counterparts from India to demand being constituionalised as a tribe of Uganda. Since President Tibuhaburwa Museveni was quoted in the media saying that he had no problem with Indians becoming a tribe of Uganda, he would probably respond similarly if the Chines population in Uganda demanded to be constituionalised as a tribe of Uganda.

However, it is unlikely the indigenes of Uganda would be silent and inactive if that was implemented. No indigene of Uganda would easily become a citizen of China.

As an environmentalist I am worried about the Chinisation of Uganda language-wise. We cannot conserve our environment in a foreign culture and for that matter, a foreign language – the Chinese language. There has been centuries-old unity between the cultures and languages of the Ugandan indigenes and their total environment. Besides, China’s environmentally, culturally and socially empty loans portfolio, which does not demand accountability of the government of the land in environmental, ecological, social and cultural terms is a major threat to our ecological, environmental, social and cultural security and integrity well in the future.

Therefore, while there are many fake things made locally and globally and circulating in Uganda, the rumours that fake plastic eggs and fake rice from China are on our markets are just that: unsubstantiated rumours. Threats from China are its expanding population, its spiralling loans; its fake manufactures, especially plastic goods; the possibility of constitutionalising the Chinese in Uganda as a tribe of Uganda; and the loss of our natural and unnatural assets to China in case the Uganda government fails to pay its debts owed to China.

For God and my country.

• A Tell report / By Oweyegha-Afunaduula / Environmental Historian and Conservationist Centre for Critical Thinking and Alternative Analysis (CCTAA), Seeta, Mukono, Uganda.

 About the Centre for Critical Thinking and Alternative Analysis (CCTAA)

The CCTAA was innovated by Hyuha Mukwanason, Oweyegha-Afunaduula and Mahir Balunywa in 2019 to the rising decline in the capacity of graduates in Uganda and beyond to engage in critical thinking and reason coherently besides excellence in academics and academic production. The three scholars were convinced that after academic achievement the world outside the ivory tower needed graduates that can think critically and reason coherently towards making society and the environment better for human gratification. They reasoned between themselves and reached the conclusion that disciplinary education did not only narrow the thinking and reasoning of those exposed to it but restricted the opportunity to excel in critical thinking and reasoning, which are the ultimate aim of education. They were dismayed by the truism that the products of disciplinary education find it difficult to tick outside the boundaries of their disciplines; that when they provide solutions to problems that do not recognise the artificial boundaries between knowledges, their solutions become the new problems. They decided that the answer was a new and different medium of learning and innovating, which they characterised as “The Centre for Critical Thinking and Alternative Analysis” (CCTAA).

Further reading

Anisa Subedar (2017). Why people believe the myth of ‘plastic rice. BBC, https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-40484135 Visited on 28 December 2024 at 1057 am EAT.

Business Daily (2017). Plastic Rice Not on Sale in Kenya-Kebs. Kenya Bureau of Standards (Kebs), June 19 October2017. https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/bd/news/-plastic-rice-not-on-sale-in-kenya-kebs-2157174 Visited on 28 Decem er, 2024 at 14:50

EGGOZ (2024). 5 Easy Ways to Identify the Difference between Fake Eggs & Real Eggs. EGGOZ, July 3 2024. https://www.eggoz.com/blogs/egg-facts/5-easy-ways-to-identify-the-difference-between-fake-eggs-real eggs#:~:text=Consuming%20plastic%20fake%20eggs%2C%20which,plastic%20eggs%20lack%20nutritional%20value. Visited on 28 December 2024 at 11:41am EAT.

Universitas Gadjar Mada, UGM (2023). UGM Expert responds to Viral Plastic Rice. UGM, 17 October, 2023,https://ugm.ac.id/en/news/ugm-expert-responds-to-viral-plastic-rice/ Visited on 28 December 2024 at 11:14am EAT.