'We never supplied ghee to Tirupati temple', Amul clarified on laddu controversy

The controversy surrounding the addition of animal fat to Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam's (TTD) Prasad Laddu is currently causing a stir in the country. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu accused the previous government of using substandard materials, including animal fat, in Tirupati laddus, sparking widespread controversy.

The name of the Amul company also came up in the controversy because it supplied ghee to the Tirupati temple. However, the Amul company has now issued a statement regarding the controversy. Amul issued a statement on Friday claiming that it has never supplied ghee to Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD).

Amul in a statement on X stressed that its ghee is made entirely from milk fat and its products undergo rigorous quality checks.

The statement said that this is in reference to some social media posts which mentioned that Amul ghee was being supplied to Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD). We wish to inform that we have never supplied Amul ghee to TTD.

Amul further said that we would also like to clarify that Amul ghee is made from milk in our state-of-the-art production facilities, which are ISO certified. Amul ghee is made from high quality pure milk fat. The milk received at our dairies undergoes quality checks including adulteration detection as specified by FSSAI.

The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) on Friday said the lack of in-house testing facility was exploited in ghee supplies to the temple body. TTD Executive Officer J Shyamala Rao said lab tests revealed the presence of animal fat and lard in selected samples.

He said the reason for the lack of quality was the absence of an in-house laboratory and sending samples to external laboratories for testing.