By Cameron Jacobs
USA Rice
Ever since rice pretenders – rice-shaped processed vegetables – emerged on the scene, the U.S. rice industry has been trying to set the record straight with consumers, retailers, manufacturers, policymakers, and lawmakers to avoid marketplace confusion.
“We’ve said from the beginning, ‘rice is a grain, not a shape,’” said Robbie Trahan, a Louisiana rice miller and chair of the USA Rice Domestic Promotion Committee. “If someone wants to eat cauliflower crumbles, that’s fine. But don’t call it ‘rice.’ It isn’t.”