Officials probe claims that roadside vendors are selling fake rice in Shau Kei Wan

Customs officers are looking into suspicions raised by Shau Kei Wan residents that a roadside seller who has been touting his wares for three years is offering counterfeit Thai rice.

It feels like fake food, residents of Yiu Tung Estate say, because the grains never seem to be fully cooked and the colour is inconsistent with the same Thai brand sold at much higher prices in supermarkets.

The product also appeared suspect because insiders in the rice retail trade said the Thai brand did not offer it in 25kg packs, according to Federation of Trade Unions lawmaker Wong Kwok-hing, who helped the residents lodge a report with customs.

"Some of the grains look whiter than others within the same pack," Wong noted yesterday. "Both the smell and the taste differ from the genuine product."

The 25kg packs were being offered from a truck that started selling foodstuffs three years ago, though the problematic product did not emerge until this year, the residents said.

The truck driver sold it for HK$320, though Wong said that quantity of rice would normally cost HK$70 more.