The illegal use of artificial essence to make scented rice has lead to a fresh round of inspections on the quality of rice produced across the country.

At a grain and oil wholesale market in Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi province, popular scented rice could be produced by adding one ton of artificial essence to 10 tons of ordinary rice, China Central Television reported on Monday.

At a workshop near the market, two types of low-cost ordinary rice were poured into a processing machine, following by an injection of artificial essence.

The processed rice was packed as Wuchang Rice, a popular brand of scented rice grown in Northeast China's Heilongjiang province.

An official at the workshop was quoted as saying that authentic Wuchang rice was scarce and highly priced. In contrast, the artificial version was made with cheaper rice from Hubei and Jiangsu provinces, as well as some areas in Heilongjiang.

The artificially scented rice yields a profit of 0.4 yuan ($0.07) per kg, a huge margin in the rice industry.

Few other workshops had adopted the same methods of maximizing profits, despite some sales people having allegedly said the rice was easy to sell. Even in a slow business season, each workshop sold some 20 to 30 tons of the artificially scented rice.