AR Dairy, a Tamil Nadu-based supplier of ghee to the renowned Tirumala Tirupati temple, has strongly denied allegations of animal fat

A ghee supplier to the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams, AR Dairy Food Pvt Limited, is under investigation for allegedly adulterating the ghee used in Tirupati laddus with cheaper vegetable and animal fats.

Chennai: Tamil Nadu -based A R Dairy Food Private Limited, which is at the centre of a raging row over allegations that the ghee it supplied to prepare famous Tirupati laddu contained animal fat, on Friday dismissed the accusations of adulteration levelled against it.

The claims are based on lab reports from National Dairy Development Board in Gujarat which revealed presence of beef tallow and lard in ghee samples supplied to TTD.

AR Dairy, the Tamil Nadu-based company which supplied ghee to the Tirumala Tirupati temple, denied allegations of any animal fat being present.

Amul, Karnataka’s Nandini Milk and AR Dairy Private Limited were being questioned over the purity of ghee being supplied to the Tirupati temple.

In a statement, Amul addressed social media rumours that claimed the company had been providing ghee to the temple. “We wish to clarify that Amul has never supplied ghee to TTD,” the company said, further stating that their ghee is produced from high-quality milk in ISO-certified facilities.

Reacting to the Tirupati laddu issue, former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy stated that the TDP is "politicising religious matters."

The Karnataka government has directed all 34,000 muzrai temples to exclusively use 'Nandini' ghee from the Karnataka Milk Federation for preparing prasada and food. This decision aims to ensure quality and address concerns following a controversy over animal fat in Tirupati laddus,

Temples in Karnataka have now been ordered to mandatorily use only Nadhini ghee of the Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) for making laddoos or any other type of sweets as offerings.