Germinated brown rice (GBR) and rice bread (RB) are two examples of value-added products that attract consumers. GBR and RB currently are becoming increasingly popular setting up fair sized industries in Japan during the last several years. Unlike theordinary brown rice, GBR can be cooked just like white rice and almost as soft as the white rice, while it holds more nutrition than the ordinary brown rice. GBR is considered to be good for accelerating metabolism in brain, relieving constipation, preventing fatty liver, preventing heart disease, lowering blood pressure, and having many other healthy points. RB is favored by Japanese consumers due to more moisture and better texture than ordinary wheat bread. Nowadays, gluten-free RB and RB using GBRhave been developed as new products. Large companies have been producing rice cookers designed for GBR and RB, marketing channels for them are being developed, more various kinds of products based on GBR and RB are on the road, and more and more retail shops are selling GBR and RB. Even school lunch is involved nationwide. The GBR and RB can grow to be some of the keys for recovering the popularity for rice in Japan and other Asian countries where per capita rice consumption is decreasing. GBR and RB are more costly in Japan. Products of GBR costs about US10 dollar per kg at a retail shop. RB costs just about 2 times as much as wheat bread. However, the products are being sold well. As more production with more efficient technologies available, the products may be sold at cheaper prices in the future. Imported cheap rice can make the products even cheaper indicating that GBR and RB produced in countries where rice is available at world market prices can be produced at relatively much less costs than in Japan. Increases in consumption of the rice products may be realized continuously, and GBR may become another type of staple food. GBR is easy to prepare at home, more nutritious, and retains 10 percent more volume than while rice; therefore, GBR can be applied in many countries outside Asia. Non-Asian people do not have so much cohesiveness to while rice like Asians, it may be easy for them to accept GBR. In food-shortage countries, GBR is quite a powerful food to save people as long as they have plenty of drinking water available.
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