Will Ensure Sanctity Of Laddu Prasadams Using Pure Cow Ghee: TTD EO

TTD EO J Syamala Rao today said that the TTD would ensure the sanctity of the highly sought-after laddu prasadam of Sri Venkateswara Swamy by using pure cow ghee.

He said that there would not be any compromise on the quality of the ghee used for making the laddus.

"Millions of pilgrims from across the globe visit the Tirumala temple to have a darsan of Sri Venkateswara Swami, and there is every need to protect the sanctity and divinity of the Tirumala divyakshetram and the laddu prasadam," he said.

Addressing media persons at the Meeting Hall of the Annamaiah Bhavan in Tirumala, the EO said that CM Chandrababu Naidu had clearly said that the quality and taste of the laddu prasadam needed to be ensured and that sanctity needed to be restored by using pure cow ghee as the issue involved the sentiments of millions and millions of devotees across the globe.

"Following this, ever since the new TTD administration took over, it has started focusing on improving the quality and the taste of the laddus. After receiving feedback from pilgrims over the poor quality of laddus in the last few years and also interacting with the Potu workers (laddu makers), for the first time the TTD sent ghee supplies to an outside lab for adulteration testing. There were 5 suppliers of ghee to the TTD, and the rates were between Rs 320 and Rs 411 per kg. The five suppliers were Premier Agri Foods, Kriparam Diary, Vaishnavi, Sri Parag Milk and A R Dairy. Prima facie these rates are not reasonable for pure ghee. All of them have been warned by the new administration to ensure good quality ghee and that the samples will be sent to outside labs for testing for adulteration in case of any quality issues and any errant companies will be blacklisted if found positive. Even after the warning, 4 ghee tankers sent by A R Foods were prima facie found to be of sub-standard quality.

"The S-value analysis carried out on the sample sent to the reputed NDDB CALF Anand fell outside the standard limits, suggesting the presence of foreign fats such as soya bean, sunflower, palm kernel and even lard and beef tallow fats. The acceptable S-value range for pure milk fat is between 98.05 and 104.32, but the tested sample showed values ranging from 23.22 to 116, reflecting significant deviations. These samples also indicated vegetable oil contamination.

"The reason for the lack of quality is not having an in-house lab. The suppliers took advantage of these deficiencies. The NDDB has come forward to donate ghee adulteration testing equipment which will cost Rs 75 lakh, and it is likely to come up by December or January next as a permanent solution. The TTD has temporarily stalled cow-based products used for making the Srivari prasadams," Rao said.

"Complaints are pouring in from devotees over the taste and quality of the anna prasadams too. Therefore the TTD has formed a committee of experts and found that there are indeed deficiencies in quality. Supplies have been temporarily suspended, after a thorough examination by experts a decision will be taken whether to restore the same or not," he added.

The Additional EO of TTD Ch Venkaiah Chowdhary was also present.