Lack of own adulteration laboratory for quality testing main reason on poor quality of ghee, says Shyamala Rao

TTD Executive Officer reveals poor quality ghee supplied by AR Dairy Foods due to lack of testing and low rate.

Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) Executive Officer Shyamala Rao, on Friday (September 20, 2024), said that “Not having own adulteration laboratory or not sending the ghee samples to outside labs for quality testing were main reasons for compromise on poor quality of ghee.”

Mr. Rao added “The supplier took advantage of this lack of quality check to supply bad quality of ghee.

He reiterated that “Another important factor was the rate. The rate agreed by the supplier was ₹320 per kg. This itself raises suspicion on the quality of ghee being supplied, as the rate was very low.”

The Executive Officer said “Ghee supplied by all suppliers were satisfactory after testing, except for the ghee supplied by AR Dairy Foods Pvt Limited. Four tankers from this company were seized. On July 6, 2024 two tankers were seized and on July 12, 2024, two more were seized. The samples were sent to CALF Lab at NDDB, Anand, for testing and they proved to be sub-standard.”

He said that “The tender for this company was finalised on March 12, 2014, finalised on May 8, 2024 and supply started from May 15, 2024.”

He said “As per total purity test — the milk fat content in ghee should range from 95.68% to 104.32%. The result of AR Foods was abnormally low it was 20.32%. This indicates that variety of other ingredients were added to make the product look like ghee.”