Amid the controversy over the presence of animal fat like beef fat, pig fat and fish oil in ghee used to make the famous laddus of Tirupati temple, dairy giant Amul has clarified it never supplied ghee to the temple. The clarification came after several social media users claimed that after the temple stopped buying Nandini ghee from Karnataka over increased price, they started to buy Amul Ghee, and the adulteration was found in the ghee supplied by Amul.
Notably, Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams in Tirumala has been using Nandini ghee to make its prasadam for decades. But after the Karnataka Congress government increased the prices of Nandini Milk marketed by the Karnataka Milk Federation, the ghee price also increased, and it was no longer the lowest bidder in twice-a-year tenders floated by the temple. As a result, the temple committee selected a different ghee supplier to make the laddus.
Now, it has been revealed that the cheaper ghee selected by the temple was not pure dairy ghee, but it was adulterated with plant and animal fats. As per a test report by According to a report by the National Dairy Development Board’s “Centre of Analysis and Learning in Livestock and Food” (CALF) laboratory in Gujarat, apart from several vegetable oils, the ghee used by the temple also had Fish Oil, Beef tallow which is a form of fat, and Lard which is a form of fart obtained from pigs.
The laddus also used vegetarian ingredients like Soybean, Sunflower, Olive, Rapseed, Linseed, Wheat germ, Maize germ, Cotton Seed, Coconut, Palm kernel fat, and Palm Oil.
After this revelation, some supporters of opposition parties started to claim that this adulterated ghee was supplied by Amul.
So they changed the ghee from Karnataka's Nandini to Gujarat's Amul because it was "cheaper". Such a farce.https://t.co/cbc5HlI6qD
— Dr. J (@just1doctorwala) September 20, 2024
Social media users also cited an India Today report from August last year, which claimed that Amul ghee was selected instead of Nandini ghee after the price hike by Karnataka Milk Federation products. However, strangely, the Amul ghee words were put in brackets in the quote by KMF president K Bheema Naik. The India Today report quoted him lamenting about losing the contract to supply to the temple as saying, “We proposed a higher price due to the upcoming hike in milk costs from August 1, but the TTD chose a different company (Amul brand) that made the lowest bid on the e-procurement site.”
It is not sure whether Naik mentioned Amul, or it was inserted by India Today, as the term is in brackets. The report also raised the question whether the quality of the laddu will be same after it is made using Amul ghee.
Pro-Congress Twitter account Spirit of Congress also shared the report, claiming that Nandini was removed and Amul was given the contract to supply ghee to TTD in 2023.
Nandini used to supply pure quality Ghee till 2023 for Tirumal Tirupati Devasthanam.(TTD)
— Spirit of Congress✋ (@SpiritOfCongres) September 20, 2024
Then.. Nandini was removed and Amul was given the contract to supply ghee to TTD.
This article is from 2023.. 👇#TirupatiLaddu pic.twitter.com/dp82yvbgh9
Mumbai Congress social media general secretary also made the same claim, that Amul had replaced Nandini to supply ghee.
So Nandini Ghee from Karnataka was replaced, and Amul Ghee from Gujarat was awarded the contract for Tirupati Prasad. Something seems suspicious ever since the news broke yesterday. Tirupati is one of those revered temples where such mistakes are unimaginable. #TirumalaLaddu… pic.twitter.com/J1dcG07fyS
— Vidya (@Vidyaraj51) September 20, 2024
Now, Amul has clarified that it never supplied ghee to TTD, and the claims made social media users are wrong. In a statement, the company said, “This is in reference to some social media posts mentioning that Amul Ghee was being supplied to Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD). We wish to inform that we have never supplied Amul Ghee to TTD.”
Issued in Public Interest by Amul pic.twitter.com/j7uobwDtJI
— Amul.coop (@Amul_Coop) September 20, 2024
The further added, “We also wish to clarify Amul Ghee is made from Milk at 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 passes through stringent quality checks including adulteration detection as specified by FSSAI.”
The leading dairy brand said, “This post is being issued to stop this misinformation campaign against Amul.”
