DAP veteran and Gelang Patah MP Lim Kit Siang said he never heard of quinoa until it was mentioned by Prime Minister Najib Razak.

Najib mentioned the grain during his live session on the 2018 Budget at the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia in Bangi yesterday.

"I had never heard of quinoa – in fact, I did not even know that quinoa existed," Lim admitted at a press conference in Penang today.

"I had to ask around whether anyone knew anything about quinoa," he added, taking a dig at Najib's speech.

During his speech, Najib revealed that he does not eat rice, but eat quinoa, which was introduced to him by his son.

Quinoa is a staple food of the Inca people which was first planted 3,000 years ago.

It is protein-based, has fewer carbohydrates and less sugar, which makes it healthier than rice.

Lim also referred to DAP Segambut MP Lim Lip Eng, who reacted to it by criticising Najib for being out of touch with the plight of Malaysians.

He noted that Malaysiakini's check with Tesco's online shop revealed that a 250-gram packet of Love Earth Organic Quinoa cost RM14.79, which means 10kg would cost approximately RM591.60.

Compare this to a 10kg packet of Jasmine Super Special (five percent broken rice) which costs RM25.85, Lim said.

"In other words, quinoa which Najib eats is about 23 times more expensive than rice, eaten by 30 million Malaysians," he pointed out.

Lim then drew a parallel with the looming 14th general election, saying it will be quinoa versus rice, a clean government versus kleptocracy and Najib versus the people of Malaysia.

Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2017, which was released yesterday, showed Malaysia to have fallen to its lowest ranking of 62 in the 23 years the CPI has been carried out.

Lim said Malaysia’s "integrity crisis" should have been addressed by Najib in his live session yesterday, but there was not one mention of it.

He added that Malaysia is poised to be overtaken by China and Indonesia in the next few years as countries which have cleaner and less corrupt governments.

"By waxing about eating quinoa and not rice, Najib set himself apart from ordinary Malaysians.

"He has set himself apart from the top 20 percent (T20), middle 40 percent (M40) and bottom 40 percent (B40), setting himself apart as the super top 2 percent (Super T 2)!" Lim exclaimed.