Tirupati laddu row: TN firm says its ghee passed quality tests before reaching TTD
“We have certificates for samples tested from tankers. FSSAI also lifted samples from our ghee, and that test showed no adulteration as well,” the company said
A company in Tamil Nadu says that the ghee it makes passes stringent quality tests before being sent to the revered shrine at Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh where a huge row hasbroken over the Tirumala temple laddus.
Food safety and standards officials at AR Foods in Dindigul told The Federal that the ghee passed quality control and food safety tests conducted by the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) and the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).
Firm claims all is well
Leni, a quality control officer at the company, said the firm tested ghee samples before and (also) after sending the containers to the TTD, which supervises the hill shrine dedicated to Lord Venkateswara.
“We have certificates with us. We sent those NABL certificates along with the ghee containers. Samples taken from our supply were tested at TTD, and they also found no adulteration,” she said.
Ghee tested, says company
Kannan, another quality control officer at AR Foods, said the company sent four tankers of ghee to TTD.
“We have certificates for samples tested from all these tankers. FSSAI also lifted samples from our ghee, and that test showed no adulteration as well. We have that report too,” he said.
“The Agmark certification team also took samples, and we passed that test as well. There is no evidence of adulteration in our ghee product. We have all the evidence with us,” he asserted. However, the firm is not supplying ghee to TTD now.
The laddu row
The ghee is used to make the laddus that are given away as prasadam at the sacred temple.
There has been outrage since Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu alleged that animal fat and substandard ingredients were used in making the laddus when the previous government was in power.On Thursday (September 19), in a shocking revelation, a private laboratory report confirmed that the ghee used to make the famous laddus contained animal fats and fish oil.
A report by NDDB CALF, a private laboratory focused on testing animal feed and milk and milk products and based in Anand, Gujarat, found that the samples of the ghee used in making Tirupati laddus contained foreign fat, including palm oil, fish oil, beef tallow and lard (obtained by rendering the fatty tissue of a pig).
