Tirupati laddu row: Amid a row over animal fat being used in the making of Tirupati laddu, the Union Health Ministry issued a show cause notice to AR Dairy Food Private Ltd, one of the companies which supplied ghee to the Sri Venkateswara Temple. The ministry had received samples from four companies and upon conducting quality tests, it found that one company’s sample failed the test, revealing adulteration.
The notice was sent by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), the government’s regulatory body, to a Tamil Nadu-based firm for allegedly supplying substandard ghee to Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam.
FSSAI notice to AR Dairy
“As per the information received in this office from The Director Institute of Preventive Medicine, Mangalagin (Andhra Pradesh), your firm, AR Diary Food Private Ltd, was one of the suppliers of ghee to Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) since the last four years. Further, as per the information, the ghee procurement committee of TTD has sent all the samples supplied to TTD for testing to the NDDB CALF Lab at Anand, Gujarat,” the notice said.
“After analysis, the sample from your firm has failed to meet the parameters and your firm has been blacklisted by EO, TTD,” it added.
“By virtue of the above non-conformance of the product “Ghee” manufactured by your firm which is not meeting the standards, you have contravened the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006, Rules and Regulations made there under.
In the notice, the food regulator body asked AR Dairy why its central licence should not be suspended for contravention of the provisions of the Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulation, 2011. “In view of all the above you are hereby directed to show cause as to why your central licence shall not be suspended for contravention of the above said provisions of the Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulation, 2011,” the notice said.
The regulator has asked the firm to submit a response by September 23. Failure to do so will result in appropriate action as per the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006 and Regulations.
What is the controversy?
The issue came to light after Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on September 18 claimed that substandard ingredients, including animal fat, were used in the preparation of Tirupati laddus, a sweet offered at the Sri Venkateswara temple in Tirupati, during the previous Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) government.
The Chief Minister subsequently announced the formation of the SIT to probe into the alleged incident in which the famous ‘prasadam’ contained “animal fat”.
However, former CM Jagan Mohan Reddy refuted the allegation, saying that no violation took place under his government. The former Chief Minister also accused Naidu of doing “politics in the name of God”.
(With agencies input)
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