The Food Storage and Prevention of Infestation Division (FSPID) of the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce in Jamaica has detained approximately 50 metric tonnes of imported rice from Suriname, valued at more than $4.6 million, which was found to be contaminated with rodent faeces.
Acting deputy food storage officer, Tamara Morrison, told Jamaica Information Service News that the contaminant was confirmed following tests conducted at the FSPID’s Rodent Biology and Control Laboratory, on samples collected by the agency’s inspectors.
She said “On February 8 and 9, the FSPID conducted inspections of two 20-foot containers of long grain white rice which were packed in 1,000 45-kilogramme bags at the importer’s storage facility in Montego Bay, where the commodity, which was shipped from Suriname for distribution in Jamaica, was being kept”.
Morrison advised that the contamination was determined to have occurred prior to the arrival of the rice, and further indicated that this was the first time that rice imported by that consignee was found with contaminants.
