The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations says it is ready to help ensure Thai rice is safe to eat.
FAO assistant director-general Hiroyuki Konuma, who is the regional representative for Asia and the Pacific, said the quality of Thai rice usually meets international standards but recent findings of chemical residue in some samples have raised concerns among the public.
The government has already given assurances that it will restore the public's confidence in Thai rice, however it also has the option of seeking FAO assistance, Mr Konuma said.
On Tuesday, the Foundation for Consumers announced their own findings that 34 of 46 packed rice samples contained various amounts of methyl bromide, an odourless, colourless gas used to fumigate rice,, even though only one - the Co-co brand - contained 67.4 parts per million (ppm) of fumigant, exceeding the international Codex safety limit of 50ppm. None of the packed rice samples contained fungicide or pesticide residue.
Shashi Sareen, FAO senior food safety and nutrition officer, said India has also used methyl bromide and aluminium phosphide gas in quarantine and pre-shipment fumigation of export commodities in bulk.
Ms Sareen said it would take about five days for aluminium phosphide fumigation to dissipate. It takes about one day for methyl bromide contamination to dissipate.
However, she noted that if proper practicces was being observed, either in India or in Thailand, there should be no problem, "Meaning [you] leave the grain in open air for some time before packing the rice in bags, or not using the chemical in heavy doses".
Mr Konuma said the food safety issue in Thailand was now related to rice being stockpiled for too long. He said he assumed the majority of rice may be stored for longer than the standard period of six months to a year.
Thanks to the standardised inspection system in Thailand, not many problems were reported about food safety, but the quality could be improved, he said.
He hoped the Thai government could get rid of its stockpiled rice in time for new crops entering the market in the next three months.
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra insisted yesterday that packed rice is up to international standards and safe for consumption.
Speaking on her Yingluck Government Meets the People weekly programme on NBT, the premier said the chemicals found in packed rice occurred only in the process of rice packaging, not the whole procedure. Ms Yingluck said she had ordered the ministries of public health, agriculture and agricultural cooperatives and science and technology to visit all rice packaging plants to check the quality of packed rice to ensure that both local and overseas consumers are confident of its quality. She admitted reports on chemical substance contamination in packed rice had made rice consumers feel uncomfortable, affected farmers income and hurt exporters.
