Less oil, more health: Christmas rice foods debut

To boost rice food culture, the Council of Agriculture of the Executive Yuan brought together 25 manufacturers to develop Christmas cakes and feasts using rice flour. Council of Agriculture Minister Chen Bao-ji highly praised rice noodles for absorbing 15% less oil, making them healthier.

The Agriculture and Food Agency of the Council of Agriculture yesterday held a press conference titled "Christmas Rice Food Rhapsody, Healthy Creativity Mobilization," promoting Eastern staple rice flour-made Christmas foods through a Western holiday for the first time.

Chen Bao-ji, along with Agriculture and Food Agency Director-General Li Cang-lang and Chinese Grain Food Industry Technology Research Institute Director Lu Xun, together sprinkled rice flour on a rice gingerbread house, heating up the atmosphere of celebrating Christmas with rice-made foods.

In his speech, Chen Bao-ji said that compared with the 1970s, when Taiwan produced over 2.3 million tons of rice annually, the current planting area is 260,000 hectares with a output of 1.6 million metric tons, a very large reduction. He said that when he was a child, after being breastfed for more than a year, babies ate congee and rice flour; in fact, rice is a staple food very suitable for the growth needs of Eastern people; moreover, the rice flour developed by the Chinese Grain Food Industry Research Institute commissioned by the Council of Agriculture, when used to make noodles, can reduce the noodles' oil absorption by more than 15%, making them healthier to eat.

Lu Xun added that some people's constitutions are allergic to the gluten contained in wheat-made flour, and his own two grandsons would get itchy skin because of it; secondly, rice has a high content of quality protein, and the human absorption rate of rice protein is 90%, higher than the 80% absorption rate of wheat protein.

The Council of Agriculture brought together a total of 25 manufacturers, including 14 rice bakery product makers, 2 pure rice noodle makers, 4 rice noodle strip makers, 3 pure rice flour makers, and 2 brown rice and germinated rice product makers, launching a total of over 90 Christmas products, including cakes, bread, and even Christmas Western meals; information on the relevant businesses can be found on the Agriculture and Food Agency's official website.