World Food Programme (WFP) has denied a report that it distributed inedible rice among the earthquake survivors in Kavre and Sindhupalchok district.
"We investigated recent claims about rice in Kavre district and found no evidence that rice distributed (there) was inedible," said WFP in a press statement on Thursday.
National Human Rights Council (NHRC) had claimed that rice distributed by WFP in some villages of Kavre and Sindhupalchok district was inedible. NHRC had also instructed Chief District Officers of Kavre and Sindhupalchok district to stop distribution of rice provided by WFP.
WFP, through its press statement, informed that a sample of food distributed in Kavre was tested by Nepal's Centre for Quality Surveillance (CQS), and it was found that 'the rice was edible and nutritious but had a slightly higher percentage of broken rice than the 25 percent quality standard'.
"While broken rice is still perfectly edible and nutritious, we understand that there is often a preference for rice that is less than 25 percent broken," reads the statement. "We are no longer using this local supplier (who supplied food to Kavre and Sindhupalchok districts).
In Kavre, WFP had distributed more than 2,000 quintals of rice through Nepal Red Cross Society.
In Nepal, WFP has been distributing rice in remote and inaccessible districts reeling under severe food crisis.