Images of a laddu (in the corner pic) and the Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple in Tirupati.
Credit: iStock Photos
Hyderabad: A day after ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leaders released reports from the NDDB's CALF lab on adulteration, on Friday, Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) executive officer J Syamala Rao confirmed the presence of animal fat in the cow ghee supplied by AR Dairy, a Tamil Nadu-based dairy.
The presence of animal fat in the ghee supplied to TTD to make Tirupati Laddu prasadam had stirred a storm over the last two days.
On Friday, Syamala Rao said that as doubts were raised over the quality of ghee that is being supplied at the lowest rate of Rs 320, samples were sent to NDDB's CALF lab for tests in July.
Out of the 10 tankers that were supplied by AR Foods, samples from four sent to the Gujarat-based lab found the ghee was adulterated with the presence of lard, beef tallow, fish oil, and other substances. However, he offered no clarity on whether TTD used the remaining six ghee tankers from AR Dairy to make Laddus or not, and whether they complied with quality norms.
TTD immediately blacklisted the company. The tenders for AR Foods were finalised in May.
“There are five Ghee suppliers to TTD. All have been warned by the new administration to ensure good quality ghee; otherwise, samples will be sent to outside labs for testing for adulteration and will be blacklisted if found positive. Even after warning, four ghee tankers sent by AR Foods were prima facie found to be of substandard quality. The S-value analysis carried out on the sample sent to the reputed NDDB CALF Anand fell outside the standard limits, suggesting the presence of foreign fats such as soybean, sunflower, palm kernel fat, or even lard and beef tallow. The acceptable S-value range for pure milk fat is between 98.05 and 104.32, but the tested sample showed values ranging from 23.22 to 116, reflecting significant deviations. These samples also indicated the presence of vegetable oil contamination,” Syamala Rao told reporters on Friday.
He added that the lack of quality is due to not having an in-house lab. “The suppliers took advantage of these deficiencies. The NDDB has come forward to donate ghee adulteration testing equipment, which will cost Rs 75 lakh, equipment that is likely to come up by December or January next as a permanent solution," he said.
He asserted that there will not be any compromise on the quality of ghee used for making laddus as millions of pilgrims from across the globe visit Tirumala temple to have darshan of Sri Venkateswara Swamy with utmost devotion, and there is every need to protect the sanctity and divinity of Tirumala Divyakshetram and Laddu prasadam.
“After receiving feedback from pilgrims over the poor quality of laddus in the last few years and also interacting with the Potu workers, for the first time TTD sent ghee supplies to an outside lab for adulteration testing,” he added.
There were five suppliers of ghee to TTD, and the rates were between Rs 320 and Rs 411. Premier Agri Foods, Kriparam Diary, Vaishnavi, Sri Parag Milk, and AR Dairy were supplying ghee to TTD.
The EO also said that complaints are pouring in from the devotees over the taste and quality of Anna Prasadams.
Therefore, TTD has formed a committee of experts and found that there are deficiencies in quality. Supplies were temporarily suspended. Experts will conduct a thorough examination before deciding whether or not to restore the supplies.