Canned rice technology set to be commercialized

Sometime last year, a hundred combat-tested soldiers converged at the Bonifacio Naval Station in Fort Bonifacio, Makati City.

No, the soldiers were not out to plot something "earth-shaking".

Instead, they had a "unique mission": To serve as members of a panel to taste the canned rice products developed jointly by scientists of the University of the Philippines-College of Food Science and Nutrition (UP-CFSM) and the Department of Agriculture-Philippine Rice Research Institute (DA-PhilRice).

Their verdict: Canned rice (CR) and canned rice meal (CRM) should be included in their food ration because they are portable and practical to consume. Specifically, many of the soldiers-panelists preferred CRM with meat (adobo, longganisa, afritada).

Last January, the supplemental agreement for the transfer of the canned rice technology was signed among then UP Diliman chancellor, now UP president, Dr. Emerlinda Ramos-Roman; PhilRice executive director Dr. Leocadio S. Sebastian; and Bernard Chu, president of Turris Philippines, Inc., which will commercialize the technology.

Dr. Ma. Patricio V. Asanza of UP Diliman, project leader, later reported: "We are now starting to develop and equip a small-scale canning facility at Turris Sucat compound (Taguig, Metro Manila) for commercial testing of the developed canned technology."

Riza Abilgos-Ramos, head of PhilRice’s Rice Chemistry and Food Science division, told The STAR that the technology has over the past four years been developed and improved following suggestions of concerned people, among them the soldier-panelists.

Started in 2001 as a collaborative project of UP-CFSN and PhilRice, the canned rice products were initially intended as convenience food supplies at military camps and evacuation centers.

"One of the promises of canned rice research is the issuance of ready-to-eat packed food rations to the armed forces. These food rations must be functional even when cooking environments and mess facilities are limited or nonexistent," Dr. Azanza, as quoted by PhilRice’s Charisma Love B. Gado.

The ready-to-eat/ready-to-cook meals were developed in view of the inconvenience of soldiers lugging around raw rice and cooking facilities during field operations. The primary carbohydrate sources of Filipino troops in field combat are baked products, which are not as satisfying as cooked rice. – Rudy A. Fernandez