Complaints and rumours of 'plastic rice', made its way to Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday, as many traders and restaurants saw a dip in customers due to messages doing the rounds on social media.

According to reports, mild tension prevailed in Pendurthi area in Visakhapatnam districts, when some residents approached the local police.

The Hindu reported that residents approached the police and complained that their children were suffering from stomach pain and other health issues after consuming the rice of a particular brand.

The police said that they sent the samples to the Food Safety department for testing.

Meanwhile, other reports suggested that some stalls at Vijayawada's Indira Gandhi Municipal Stadium have stopped selling biriyani after poor sales for the last five days.

“Andhra Pradesh is considered to be the rice bowl of India and we have production sufficient for the next three or four years. The cost of rice is cheaper than the cost of plastic rice. There is no chance of plastic rice being sold in the state,” Secretary of the Rice Traders Association, Konijeti Prasad, told Deccan Chronicle.

On Monday, an alleged incident of plastic rice sale in the temple town of Srisailam in Kurnool district also created flutter after some people complained that a merchant sold them plastic rice.

According to experts, it's easy to detect plastic rice. If rice is poured in a water container and falls to the bottom, it is organic rice, else it is plastic rice.

They also said that people may be confusing organic rice for being 'plastic', as cooked rice kept for a long period could accumulate fungus.

According to doctors, if plastic is consumed on sustained basis, it leads to hormonal imbalance, digestion, absorption problems, birth defects and even cancer.

IANS inputs