Centre's notice to a ghee supplier for Tirupati temple amid laddu row: Sources
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has issued a show cause notice to AR Dairy over allegations of supplying adulterated ghee for Tirumala laddus.
by Manisha Pandey · India TodayIn Short
- Political row over substandard ingredients in Tirupati laddus
- Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams blacklists AR Dairy
- AR Dairy denies allegations, challenges laboratory findings
The Union Health Ministry has issued a show cause notice to AR Dairy, one of the companies which supplied ghee to the Tirupati temple, sources told India Today TV.
The notice has been sent by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), the government's food regulatory authority.
AR Dairy came under scrutiny after a report by NDDB CALF, a private laboratory specialising in testing animal feed and dairy products, found that ghee samples used in the famed Tirupati laddus contained foreign fats, including palm oil, fish oil, beef tallow, and lard (pig fat).
AR Dairy, one of the suppliers of ghee to the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), has denied the allegations of adulteration and is challenging the laboratory findings.
“The requirement of the temple is 10 tonnes of ghee per day. We have supplied not even 0.1 per cent of the requirement," AR Dairy said in a statement.
Amid the row, TTD executive officer J Syamala Rao said the temple board had blacklisted AR Dairy Food Pvt Ltd and initiated legal proceedings against it for allegedly supplying adulterated ghee.
WHAT IS THE CONTROVERSY?
The controversy erupted after Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, last week, alleged that substandard ingredients and animal fat were found in the laddus served as prasadam at Tirupati temple during the previous YSRCP regime.
Citing a lab report from Gujarat, Naidu claimed the presence of "beef tallow", "lard" (relating to pig fat), and fish oil in the ghee.
Jagan Mohan Reddy, however, 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".