AR Dairy Food, one of these companies, supplies ghee to the Tirupati temple at just Rs 320 per kg. View details tutd

The incidents of adulteration of prasad and laddus at Tirupati Balaji temple are increasing. According to reports, lard, fish oil, beef tallow etc are used instead of ghee in the prasad prepared for devotees at Tirupati temple.

Just before the controversy, AR Dairy Food Pvt Ltd was supplying ghee to the Tirupati temple. After the growing controversy, the company has now come under the scanner. Chandrababu Naidu in a video claimed that animal fat was used instead of ghee while making prasad at the Venkateswara temple in Tirupati. The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) manages the Venkateswara Swamy temple.

This company used to supply ghee
AR Dairy Food Private Limited used to supply ghee to the Tirupati temple. After the controversy, the company came under the scanner. However, the company has clarified the matter. AR Dairy in Tamil Nadu said that their product samples have been legally approved for quality by the authorities. The company said that whenever it is supplied, it is tested by a registered laboratory.

How did this company get into trouble?
TTD executive officer J Shyamala Rao told PTI that despite the warning, four tankers of ghee sent by SR Foods were found to be of substandard quality. Rao said TTD has five ghee suppliers, namely Premier Agri Foods, Kriparam Dairy, Vaishnavi, Shree Parag Milk and AR Dairy. Their prices range from Rs 320 to Rs 411 per kg.

Nandini will supply ghee again
Nandini brand ghee had supplied around 4,000 metric tonnes of ghee to Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) between 2013 and 2018. In 2019, around 1,170 tonnes of ghee was also sent. Nevertheless, from 2020, Nandini temporarily stopped supplying ghee to Tirupati Devasthanams as Nandini could not match the lower prices of other competitors and hence the contract was passed on to someone else. Now, after this controversy, Nandini has again been ordered to supply ghee.

No compromise on quality
Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) officials said there is no compromise on the quality of Nandini’s products. “There is no possibility of adulteration or use of substandard raw materials in Nandini. We have made it clear that we cannot offer our products at a cheaper price. That is why we lost the tender then, but now we have to do it. The contract for supply of ghee has been awarded again,” said a KMF official.