Tirupati laddu news: In fresh controversy, devotee says found ‘gutkha and traces of tobacco’ in prasadam

Amid the controversy over substandard ghee, animal fat used in Tirupati laddu, more allegegations came to light where a devotee claimed that a packet of gutkha and traces of tobacco were found in the prasadam.
An India Today report said, Donthu Padmavati, a resident of Khammam district, said she discovered the tobacco after her visit to the temple on September 19.

"As I was about to distribute the laddu, I was horrified to find pieces of tobacco wrapped in a small paper," Padmavati shared and further added, "The prasadam is supposed to be sacred, and to find such contamination is heartbreaking."

Four-hour purification ritual at the temple

Meanwhile, the country's food safety regulator has issued a show cause notice to a Tamil Nadu-based firm for allegedly supplying substandard ghee to temple authority Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam even as the chorus for a thorough probe and strict action over the alleged use of animal fat in Tirupati laddus grew louder.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu had on Sunday announced a Special Investigation Team to probe the allegations.

Stepping in, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has asked A R Diary Food Private Ltd why its central licence should not be suspended for contravention of the provisions of the Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulation, 2011, according to sources.

According to the notice, FSSAI said it received information from The Director of the Institute of Preventive Medicine, Mangalagiri (Andhra Pradesh), that A R Dairy Food Private Ltd in Dindigul was one of the suppliers of ghee to TTD for the last four years.

Further, as per the information, the ghee procurement committee of TTD has sent all the samples supplied to TTD for testing to NDDB CALF Lab at Anand, Gujarat, it said.

On Monday, a four-hour purification ritual was carried out at the revered shrine to propitiate Lord Venkateswara Swamy after alleged "sacrilegious practices such as mixing animal fats" in making Tirupati laddus (consecrated sweet) and others, temple sources said.

(With inputs from agencies)