AFTER Deputy-Prime-Minister-cum-Commerce Minister Phumtham Wechayachai recommended the consumption of 10-year-old rice stockpiled under the rice subsidy programme carried out by deposed prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra’s government, a professor came out to warn of aflatoxin contamination with this being a very dangerous cancer-causing substance, Amarin TV said today (May 8).
Dr. Veerachai Phutthawong, a professor at the Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Kasetsart University, said in a Facebook post that continuous exposure to just one microgramme of aflatoxin can cause cancer.
“Ten-year-old rice can be used if it has been checked and found to be safe, but you have to weigh whether it’s worth it or not. The only thing I am worried about is this substance, aflatoxin, which causes cancer – very dangerous,” he said.
“The World Health Organization classifies aflatoxin as a very serious carcinogen, with doses as low as one microgramme capable of mutating bacteria and causing cancer in laboratory animals if exposed continuously.”
Aflatoxins are often found in agricultural raw materials that are improperly processed and stored, including flour, peanuts, cashew nuts, cassava, dried fruits and vegetables, dried fish, dried shrimp, dried coconut milk, dried coconut, dried onion, dried garlic, dried chilli and pepper, he mentioned.
CAPTION:
Dr. Veerachai Phutthawong and some of the 10-year-old rice which had been put in government stock in Surin. Photo: Amarin TV
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