Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu’s statement claiming that animal fat was being used in laddoos served as prasad at the famous Tirupati Temple has sparked a massive controversy. Now, in an exclusive conversation with CNN-News18, officials of Raaj Milk – AR Dairy Food Private Limited, in Tamil Nadu’s Dindigul, have said they were only using cow milk to prepare ghee.
“There is no possibility of the presence of animal fat in the ghee,” Rajasekaran Raju, Managing Director at the company said, on the allegations surrounding the laddoo prasad at the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), which manages the famous Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple.
“We are using only cow milk for our ghee. Each and every batch is tested and we have laboratory reports. The ghee we produce is dispatched only after proper testing,” the MD told CNN-News18.
This comes as Naidu, during an NDA legislative party meeting, claimed that the previous YS Jagan Mohan Reddy-led government did not even spare Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple in Tirupati and used substandard ingredients and animal fat for making laddus. The Nandini brand milk producer Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) has clarified they no longer supply ghee to the TTD, saying, the same was discontinued four years ago over pricing issues.
Rajasekaran said the Tirupati temple was not using only their ghee, and that four to five suppliers were involved.
“We are not the major supplier, we supplied only four tankers and stopped after they sent a report on the quality issue,” he said, adding, “We never supplied a huge quantity of ghee and they never used our ghee alone for the prasad laddoos.”
Rajasekaran told CNN-News18 that they never overpriced the ghee high for the Tirupati temple and that this was their way of donating to the temple.
“Instead of giving a direct donation, we have managed the cost of our ghee for the temple. This is an indirect way of donating to the temple,” the Managing Director said.
“The Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) report is incorrect and we have all test reports. We only supplied four tankers in June and those also were returned,” he said, adding, “We received a communication from the TTD and we have responded to them. However, we have not received an acknowledgement from them.”
On being asked if the ghee for the TTD, was being provided by the company, another official claimed the purported report by the Gujarat laboratory does not state its name.
The official also told CNN-News18 that it was not providing ghee to the TTD at present. However, the official confirmed that AR Dairy Food Private Limited was one of the many companies that supplied ghee to the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams earlier.
CNN-News18 also questioned the official on reports of the ghee being adulterated and animal fat being used in the same, to which, the official said, “Our products are clean.”
“You can check, you can compare. Our products are available everywhere in the name of ‘Raaj’, you may send it to any laboratory,” he said.
“The parameters that are being talked about are the ingredients, which cannot be concluded in just the milk fat, it relates to a lot of things,” the official said, adding, “The ratio is important.”
The AR Dairy Food Private Limited official also told CNN-News18 that the Gujarat laboratory report should be analysed.
“This cannot be concluded and the report has to be analysed. It does not state anything about our products and so we do not worry,” he said.
The official was also asked about the reasons due to which his company was barred from supplying ghee to the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams.
“We have got no information about being blacklisted or barred, we are only responding to the TTD and will take a legal action if required,” he said.
“We are in a position to prove the genuinity of our products,” he told CNN-News18.
On being asked about the low prices of the ghee, despite the company claiming it to be pure, the official said the ghee is produced in bulk and hence the company does not incur any losses.
THE LADDOO CLAIMS AND THE LAB REPORT
Hours after Chandrababu Naidu’s claims, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) spokesperson Anam Venkata Ramana Reddy claimed that the adulteration has been confirmed by a Gujarat-based livestock laboratory, on the ghee samples provided by the TTD. He also displayed the purported lab report which apparently confirmed the presence of “beef tallow”, “lard” and “fish oil” in the given ghee sample.
YSRCP leaders have denied the allegations.
FOOD MINISTER CALLS FOR A PROBE
On Friday, Food Minister Pralhad Joshi called for an investigation into allegations made by Chandrababu Naidu.
“Whatever the Andhra Chief Minister has said is a matter of serious concern. A detailed enquiry is required and the culprit should be punished,” Joshi told reporters on the sidelines of a global food regulators summit in Delhi.
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