News reports of ‘poisonous rice’ completely false and misleading - Actg. Registrar of Pesticides

 

The Acting Registrar of Pesticides, Mr. Lasantha Ratnaweera, says that the news published in two Sunday newspapers claiming that poisonous rice was imported to Sri Lanka, is completely false and baseless. 

He said that no such research as claimed in the news article has been conducted by the Office of the Registrar of Pesticides since January this year. Mr. Ratnaweera said that the relevant newspapers have prepared the news using a report related to a research conducted in 2017, but even so, the contents are also flawed. 

The Acting Registrar of Pesticides further stated that publication of such false news could lead to public unrest. The Acting Registrar of Pesticides said that there is no way to find a method of measuring heavy metals in percentages anywhere in the world and it is not practical.