Tirupati laddu row | Health Ministry issues notice to ghee supplier TN firm

The Union Health Ministry has issued a show cause notice to AR Dairy, one of the companies which supplied ghee to the Tirupati temple.

As per media reports, the notice has been sent by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), the government's food regulatory authority.

One of the suppliers of ghee to the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), AR Dairy came under scanner after a report by NDDB CALF, a private laboratory specialising in testing animal feed and dairy products, found that ghee samples used in the famed Tirupati laddus contained foreign fats, including palm oil, fish oil, beef tallow, and lard (pig fat).

Firm denies charges

However, AR Dairy has denied the allegations of adulteration and is challenging the laboratory findings. “The requirement of the temple is 10 tonnes of ghee per day. We have supplied not even 0.1 per cent of the requirement,” AR Dairy said in a statement.

Earlier, food safety and standard officials at AR Foods in Tamil Nadu’s Dindigul told The Federal that the ghee passed quality control and food safety tests conducted by the TTD and the FSSAI.

Amid the row, TTD executive officer J Syamala Rao said the temple board had blacklisted AR Dairy Food Pvt Ltd and initiated legal proceedings against it for reportedly supplying adulterated ghee.

The controversy

The row erupted after Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu alleged that substandard ingredients and animal fat were found in the laddus served as prasadam at Tirupati temple during the previous YSRCP regime.

Citing a lab report from Gujarat, Naidu claimed the presence of “beef tallow”, “lard” (relating to pig fat), and fish oil in the ghee.

YSRCP chief Jagan Mohan Reddy, however, refuted the allegation, saying that no violation took place under his government. The former chief minister also accused Naidu of resorting to “politics in the name of God”.