Tirupati laddu row: TTD ghee supplier dismisses ‘absurd’ claims

An employee from AR Dairy Food Private Limited—a Tamil Nadu-based company facing allegations of supplying adulterated ghee to the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams(TTD) for Sri Venkateswara Temple prasadam—has dismissed the claims as “absurd.”
The employee refuted the allegations that fish oil had been used for making the laddus, claiming it was more expensive than ghee. The employee’s reactions came a day after the Tirumala Temple authorities filed a complaint against AR Dairy Food Private Limited.
The laddus served as ‘prasad’ at the Tirumala Temple have been under the scanner after Telugu Desam Party (TDP) claimed that lab reports have shown that Tirupati laddus contain “beef tallow, fish oil” and other substandard ingredients.
Kanan, a quality control officer at the firm noted that that the allegations were “nonsensical” as any adulteration would be easily detectable by smell. “These allegations, which range from claims of vegetable oil to animal fat adulteration, are severely damaging to our business. Additionally, the assertion that fish oil was added is nonsensical; fish oil costs more than ghee. Any form of adulteration would be immediately noticeable by its odour,” he told a local media outlet, reported The Indian Express.
The AR Dairy employee further added that the company has been producing ghee since 1998 and that the milk used undergoes 102 quality checks. Kanan emphasized that the ghee is approved by the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD).
“Our ghee samples are first tested in national laboratories before being sent to TTD, and upon arrival, TTD’s food safety officer checks the samples again,” he added, stated the IE report.
Spiritual guru Ravi Shankar compared the Tirupati laddu row to the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857, which erupted after Indian soldiers came to know about pig fat used to line the cartridges.
“…deeply wounded by this laddu. This is something which cannot be pardoned, it cannot be forgiven. It’s malicious and it is the height of greed of people who are involved in this process. So, they need to be punished severely,” said Ravi Shankar, reported ANI.