Somsak says Ministry of Public Health ready to check quality of old rice

Phumtham said the rice would be auctioned by next month to recover the cost to the state.

Health experts have expressed concern that rice stored for 10 years could be contaminated by germs or chemicals used to preserve it.

Somsak said he did not know whether or not the Commerce Ministry would decide whether to seek help from the Public Health Ministry to check the quality of the rice.

Meanwhile, Senator Somchai Sawangkarn alleged that there might be irregularities regarding the rice kept in the two warehouses.

Somchai, who chairs the Senate Committee on Human Rights and Consumer Protection, said the Office of the Ombudsman recently issued a report saying it was unable to verify rice in the two warehouses in 2022 and 2023 because the rice there was rotten and the piles of rice bags had fallen.