Tirupati Prasadam Row: Private Dairy Refutes Allegation of Supplying Adulterated Ghee to TTD
NEW DELHI, Sept 20: The Dindigul, Tamil Nadu, -based private dairy on Friday refuted the allegations of having supplied adulterated ghee to the Tirumala Titupati Devasthanam for the preparation of “prasadam” at the famous temple and claimed that its products had certification of the central government-run Food safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).
Speaking to media persons on Friday, the A.R. Dairy’s Quality Control team members denied the allegation that the ghee used to make the Tirupati laddu was impure or substandard. They said the dairy had supplied ghee to the TTD even in June and July, that is much after the Chandrababu Naidu government came to power in Andhra Pradesh, and there were no complaints so far.
Claiming that there were no issues from the Devasthanam, they admitted that they had stopped supply. “During June and July, we despatched four truck-loads of ghee….” Prior to the consignments being loaded, the Standard Operating Procedure is to send samples to government recognised laboratory and get them tested,” they added.
Answering a question, the team members said that they were not supplying now to the Devasthanam. They further clarified: “We have been in this business for the last 25 years. We have been supplying to so many outlets/institutions. Our products are tested at various levels in the government approved laboratories,’ they asserted.
The FSSAI officials also took samples at periodic intervals. The company followed the guidelines as per the laws and they were one among the suppliers of ghee products to TTD, which accounted for 0.1%, they claimed.
The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) engineers from Dindigul district visited the premises of the private dairy company on Friday evening and took samples of the water discharged from the plant. The officials said that they would submit the samples of ghee at the government approved laboratory. Based on the inference, the next step would be taken, they maintained.
(Manas Dasgupta)
