“Whatever has come to light regarding Tirupati Balaji Temple is not good for anyone.This type of fraud is not a good thing,” Kharge said addressing a press conference.
“This is not good for the devotees also, because people go to the temple with great devotion,” he added.
However, earlier in the day, Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams said that sanctity of the ‘prasadam‘ has been restored.
The temple trust has also stalled the use of cow-based products temporarily for making Srivari Prasadams. “The sanctity of Srivari laddu prasadam is restored again,” it said in late Friday night a post on X.
“After receiving feedback from pilgrims regarding the poor quality of laddus in recent years and after consulting with the Potu workers (laddu makers), TTD, for the first time, sent ghee samples to an external lab for adulteration testing,” it said.
Addressing the lab report that confirmed the presence of foreign fats in the ghee used, TTD said, “Foreign fats such as soybean, sunflower, palm kernel fat, or even lard and beef tallow. The acceptable S-value range for pure milk fat is between 98.05 and 104.32, but the tested samples showed values ranging from 23.22 to 116, indicating significant deviations.”
“The lack of an in-house lab for ghee testing allowed suppliers to take advantage of the situation. However, NDDB has offered to donate ghee adulteration testing equipment, valued at Rs. 75 lakh,” TTD said. The public laboratory analysis had revealed that there were foreign fats present in the ghee used to make laddus, including lard (clarified pig fat), tallow (beef fat) and fish oil.
The samples also included fats from vegetable sources like coconut, linseed, rapeseed, and cottonseed. This analysis was conducted on July 23 following government complaints about a change in the taste of the laddu prasadam. The trust issued a warning to suppliers to maintain the quality of the ghee, stating that failure to comply would result in blacklisting.
“There are five ghee suppliers to TTD, with prices ranging between Rs 320 and Rs 411. These suppliers include Premier Agri Foods, Kriparam Dairy, Vaishnavi, Sri Parag Milk, and AR Dairy. However, these prices do not appear sustainable for providing pure ghee,” the trust noted.
Meanwhile, the trust has formed an expert committee and temporarily suspended supplies to conduct quality checks.