CHENNAI: A family of Sangakonanpatti village near Koduvilarpatti is still in shock after they witnessed rice turned red in colour after cooking.
Poonkodi, a woman of the family, had procured a rice bag of 25 kg from a dealer shop at Theni for `1,050 last week. She cooked the rice on Wednesday afternoon and after the family had it, she kept the leftover. The next morning, she found it turned red.
Poonkodi said, “The rice was pure white while boiling. But the colour of remaining boiled rice turned red next morning.” Assuming that it might be due to some ill omen or a plot by some persons, she informed her relatives who were also left in shock.
For three days, they checked the cooked rice again and again but every time it would turn red after some hours (roughly after over 12 hours). Then, suspecting that the rice might be adulterated, they alerted the Food Safety department.
On Saturday, the officials from the Food Safety department collected samples of both the boiled and uncooked rice for testing.
Poonkodi’s brother Seenivasan said that after the incident, they are now scared to consume rice. “The government should find the reason behind it,” Poonkodi added. The family members complained that they felt some minor abdominal pain after consuming the rice. Though they are fine now, a fear has gripped them.