Tirupati Laddu Crisis: FSSAI Cracks Down on Substandard Ghee Supplier

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has issued a show cause notice to A R Dairy Food Private Ltd for allegedly supplying substandard ghee to Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam. The ghee was found to not meet regulatory standards, leading to calls for preserving the integrity of 'prasadam'.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has issued a show cause notice to A R Dairy Food Private Ltd, a Tamil Nadu-based firm, for allegedly supplying substandard ghee to the revered Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam, official sources revealed on Monday.

The show cause notice questions why the company’s central license should not be suspended for violating the Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulation, 2011. According to FSSAI, the Director of the Institute of Preventive Medicine (Mangalagiri, Andhra Pradesh) reported that the company has been a ghee supplier to the Tirumala temple for the past four years.

Samples of the ghee were tested and found substandard, leading to the firm’s blacklisting by Tirumala’s Executive Officer. The controversy ignited after former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu alleged that the previous government used substandard ingredients and animal fat in Tirupati laddus. This has led to a nationwide demand for steps to safeguard the sanctity of 'prasadam'.