i came upon this clump of sugar-cane plants at the back of some houses along joo avenue. it reminded me of the sugar-cane that we used to grow at the frontyard or backyard of our kampong house.
the other day we were at a food centre when i asked if anyone wanted sugar-cane juice. one of them declined citing a report that a pregnant woman lost her baby after drinking some sugar-cane juice which had rat's urine in it.
i was trying to explain to her that nowadays the sugar-cane do not come to the vendor as a whole plant but they are already cut to a suitable length to fit into a box. yes, in the past, they would be delivered to the stall in whole. the vendor would leave them standing in a corner of the stall.
according to the same report, sugar-cane being porous, whatever liquid was splashed at the base, including animal's urine, would be absorbed by the sugar-cane. so, a rat or a cat could have peed at the base and somehow the urine would have made its way into the cane.
i think some time ago - maybe two years back - there was a email i received which was meant to warn us about the hazard of drinking sugar-cane juice.
i am not affected by the report or the email. however, i do not drink sugar-cane juice as much as i used to because the price has generally gone up by 20% or more.
