269 



POLISHING AND COATING RICE. 



It has been represented to the Department that it is a very 

 common practice in this country in the preparation of rice for 

 commerce to treat it in the following manner: 



1. The rough rice is passed through a set of stones, or shellers, 

 which removes the hull. 



2. The product is subjected to a series of scouring machines 

 by which the bran and cuticle are removed. 



3. The rice is passed through a machine that is known as the 

 brush, which removes a portion of the flour, or more commonly 

 known as polish. 



4. The rice is introduced into a warm revolving drum ur 

 cylinder holding often as much as 4,000 pounds, and glucose and 

 talc are added in the following manner and in about the following 

 proportion: As the rice is fed into the drums a small proportion 

 of glucose and talc is applied, namely, glucose one one thou- 

 sandth and talc one three-thousandth part of the whole. The 

 object of the glucose is to form a coating by means of which a 

 part of the talc is held on the surface of the rice. 



It is stated that the rice is coated for the following reasons : 



1. The coating makes the rice less susceptible to dust ani' 

 other foreign matter during transportation and storage. 



2. It is, in a measure, a preventive against the attack of the 

 weevils and worms which are so destructive in warm climates. 



It has also been represented that in some instances paraffin -s 

 used instead of glucose and that rice starch is sometimes used in 

 place of talc for the purpose of finishing rice according to the 

 method described above. 



In submitting these representations it has been asked if the 

 process above described is permitted under the food and drugs 

 act of June 30, 1906. It is not clear to the Department that coat- 

 ing rice in this way protects it in any manner from dust. Evi- 

 dence of an expert character is also on file in the Department 

 showing that unpolished rice is no more subject to the ravages 

 of the weevil than the polished article. 



