New Delhi, January 12
To put an end to the mixing of low quality white rice with basmati rice, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has specified the identity standards for basmati and its variants — brown, milled, parboiled brown and milled parboiled.
It is for the first time that the government has taken such a step to expose the adulteration in basmati rice, which is a widely consumed variety of the grain domestically and globally. India accounts for two-thirds of its global supply.
The new standards, aimed at establishing fair practices in the trade of basmati rice and protecting consumer interest both domestically and globally, will come into effect from August 1.
New standards shall ensure basmati rice are free from artificial fragrances, artificial colouring and polishing agents. These standards also specify various identity and quality parameters for basmati rice such as average size of grains, their elongation ratio after cooking, maximum moisture limit, amylose content, uric acid and incidental presence of other non-basmati rice.
