Ground Report: Tirupati prasadam ghee had pig & beef fat, fish oil; YSRCP govt compromised quality of laddoo for commission?

- I Venkateswara Rao

Tirumala Venkateswara Swamy is the living deity of Kali Yuga. After darshan of Tirumalesh, Srivari laddoo prasadam is taken with pleasure. The taste of Tirupati Laddu is amazing. No other Laddu prasadam has that taste. That's why if anyone goes to Tirumala Tirupati, they are asked to bring prasadam. Now, a huge controversy erupted after CM Chandrababu Naidu accused previous YS Jagan Mohan Reddy-led YSRCP government of using 'animal fat' in the 'prasadam' of Lord Balaji.

Accusations on Jagan government

Naidu accused that The substandard ghee, cashews, almonds and other ingredients were used during the YSRCP govt regime. As a result, the quality of Tirumala laddu has declined. Nandini Cooperative Dairy of Karnataka used to supply ghee to Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) at a subsidized rate. The Nandini company was sidelined by the previous government for the sake of commissions.

Compromised quality of laddoo for commission

Former TTD EO Dharma Reddy awarded the ghee supply contract to the firms preferred by him. TTD requires 15 kg of ghee per day for laddoos. The agreement was made without inquiring about those companies. The price of 1 kg of cow ghee ranges from Rs.400 to Rs.1000. However, these companies supplied substandard ghee at Rs.320.

Lab report confirms beef & pig fats, fish oils

The samples of ghee were sent to the ISO 17025 accredited NDDB CALF Lab on July 8, 2024. The Centre for Analysis and Learning in Livestock and Food (CALF) is a multidisciplinary analytical laboratory at the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) in Gujarat’s Anand. The central government's recognized lab provided a report on July 16.

The report clearly states that in addition to cow ghee, the samples contained soybean, sunflower, olive, wheat germ, corn, cottonseed, as well as fish oil, beef tallow, palm oil, and lard (relating to pig fat). The lab reports of samples showed that the S value is only 19.7, which should have been 95.68 to 104.32, which confirms that beef tallow and animal fat - lard, and fish oil were used in the preparation of ghee which was supplied to Tirumala.

TTD blacklists contractor for substandard ghee supply

After the NDA government came to power in Andhra Pradesh, senior IAS officer J Syamala Rao was appointed the new TTD EO. Then, an inquiry was ordered into the alleged poor quality of the Prasadam. TTD constituted an expert committee to look into the quality of the laddoos. 

The committee also sent samples of the ghee to NDDB, Gujarat. The lab reports confirmed the presence of foreign fats. TTD returned the ghee stocks supplied by AR Dairy Foods, in Tamil Nadu and blacklisted the contractor.

The expert committee members included Dr B Surendranth, former principal scientist of the National Dairy Research Institute, Vijayawada, Bhaskar Reddy (dairy expert), Prof B Mahadevan (IIM-Bangalore) and Dr G Swarnalatha from the Telangana Veterinary University.

(Edited by Mary Rose Baba)