The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) said on Saturday that the divinity and purity of Srivari laddu is ‘unblemished’ now. Earlier, the temple board also announced plans to install “in-house adulteration testing machine” to ensure food-safety standards at the temple.
On Wednesday, Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu alleged that previous government headed by YSRCP’s Jagan Mohan Reddy compromised religious ‘purity’ of India’s richest temple by allowing the use of adulterated ghee that contained animal fat. Naidu cited a lab report from Gujarat that claimed the ghee contained traces of fish oil, beef tallow, and lard.
What is beef tallow?
Beef tallow refers to a substance made from fat extracted from beef cuts like a rump roast, ribs and steak. Tallow can also be produced by heating and melting the fat skimmed from meat, turning it into a liquid that hardens into a flexible, butter-like consistency when cooled to room temperature.
Did lower price lead to adulteration?
The company in the eye of storm is Dindigul based AR Foods in Tamil Nadu. The firm was among the five short-listed companies was the Dindigul-based AR Foods, with the lowest bid of ₹320/litre.
“We used to supply ghee to TTD till June, July. Then we stopped supplying. We have a legacy of 30 years. We do not do any adulteration with our products”, said an AR Dairy spokesperson to a Tamil local news channel.
“Of the total quantity procured by TTD, we supplied only 0.1%. Even for those supplies, we have conducted tests and have sent the reports, even ones from FSSAI, to TTD”, she explained.
The company also rubbished claims of fish oil being used as a ghee adulterant saying the substance was more expensive than ghee. “Any adulteration of this kind would immediately be detectable by smell alone,” said the company’s quality control officer.
TTD executive officer J Shyamala Rao said the lab tests confirmed the presence of animal fat-contaminated ghee and said the board was in process of blacklisting the contractor. The officer highlighted that the supplier took advantage of these deficiencies, who supplied ghee between ₹320 and ₹411 and called this price band as unviable for supplying pure cow ghee.
Citing unviability of supplying ghee at such low prices, the Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) opted out of the contract in 2023. However, KMF began resuming supplies to TTD in last month following Naidu’s directive to improve the quality of laddus.
Political slugfest
Reacting to Naidu’s allegations, the YSRCP hit back accusing him of politicising the issue to divert attention from his government’s failure over flood relief. The party also moved the Andhra Pradesh high court to demand an investigation into Naidu’s claims.
The bench suggested that a public interest litigation be filed on September 25, whose arguments would be heard on the same day.
Former chief minister Jagan Mohan Reddy also wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and CJI DY Chandrachud demanding action against Naidu for ‘twisting’ facts. Union Health Minister JP Nadda on Friday sought a report from the Andhra Pradesh government and promised to take ‘suitable’ action.
Meanwhile, chief minister Naidu said on Saturday that his government will consult priests and ‘top Hinduism experts’ to decide its next course of action and how the ‘samprokshana’ (ritualistic purification) should be done.
(With inputs from agencies)
