A laboratory analysis has found adulteration in four samples of ghee supplied to the Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanam (TTD) in Andhra Pradesh in July 2024. The report by the Centre for Analysis and Learning in Livestock and Food (CALF) of the National Dairy Development Board noted that the content used to adulterate the ghee could include substances from soya bean, sunflower, rapeseed, olive, linseed, wheat germ, maize germ, cotton seed, fish oil, coconut, palm kernel fat, palm oil, beef tallow and lard.

Shyamala Rao, the Executive Officer of the TTD, said that the results were unfortunate and that the samples were adulterated with many kinds of fats including animal fats like tallow and lard. “Pure milk fat should have a reading between 95.68 to 104.32, but all our ghee samples had values around 20, which means the ghee supplied is highly adulterated,” he said.

However, multiple scientists TNM spoke to (all wanted to remain anonymous) said that the report shows there was adulteration, but what the adulterant was cannot be conclusively verified, they stated. One scientist pointed out that such results could also indicate that the cattle was underfed. This is a caveat that the CALF report also mentions.

The lab reports were released by Shyamala Rao after Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu stated on September 18 that there was presence of ‘animal fat’ in the ghee used to make the laddus at the Tirumala temple. 

Telugu Desam Party (TDP) spokesperson Anam Venkat Ramana Reddy told TNM that ‘animal fat’ was one of the possibilities according to the lab report. “I agree that it is a possibility. Our point is that even this adulteration should not happen,” Anam Reddy said.

An 8-page PDF document released by the TTD has results of two samples. The first sample, referred to as sample number AB021252, ‘complies to the requirements of Specification FSSAI for the tested parameters.’

The lab result says that the second sample – AB021253 – does not comply with the requirements of ‘Fatty acid Profile, β-Sitosterol and Purity of Milk Fat’. According to FSSAI, the presence of β-sitosterol in ghee can indicate that it has been adulterated with vegetable fats.

This lab report for sample AB021253 also includes an annexure which says that five S-values in the ghee were falling out of the range. S-value is a mathematical equation used to determine the purity of milk fat.

The annexure then gives a table of likely adulterants – soya bean, sunflower, rapeseed, olive, linseed, wheat germ, maize germ, cotton seed, fish oil, coconut, palm kernel fat, palm oil, beef tallow or lard. 

The annexure also says that there are chances of false positive results in certain cases. These false positives can emerge if the samples are obtained from bovine milk other than cow milk, obtained from single cows or from cows overfed on pure vegetable oils, underfed cows or cows subjected to treatments such as removal of cholesterol.

When the TDP came to power in June 2024, they had promised to investigate complaints that the prasadam at the Tirumala temple had deteriorated in quality. A committee comprising Dr Surendranath, former principal scientist at the National Dairy Research Institute, dairy expert Dr Vijay Bhaskar Reddy, Dr Swarnalatha from the Telangana Veterinary University, and Dr Mahadevan (IIM Bangalore) was formed. Accordingly, samples of the ghee – provided by a company called AR Foods based out of Dindigul in Tamil Nadu – were collected from the TTD godown and sent for testing.

AR Foods won the contract post COVID-19 under the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) rule, replacing the Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF), which had supplied ghee to the TTD for decades. The TDP has been alleging since then that pure ghee cannot be produced  and supplied at the meager rates in which the tender was finalised. “One kg of pure ghee will cost Rs 1,000, how could the tender be given for Rs 320?” Anam Reddy asked.

The allegation kicked up a storm and the discourse turned communal as the previous chief minister of the YSRCP, Jagan Mohan Reddy, belongs to the Christian faith. Both TDP and BJP had previously blamed the Jagan government for the alleged targeted attacks on temples and desecration of idols. Chandrababu Naidu even called Jagan a “betrayer of Hindus” and suggested that the former CM was aiming to “convert” Hindus.

The CM’s allegation was vehemently denied by the YSRCP. Shortly after Naidu’s statement, Rajya Sabha MP and former TTD chairman YV Subba Reddy condemned the allegations as “baseless” and “evil.” 

“It has been proved once again that Chandrababu will not hesitate to do anything bad for the benefit of politics. To strengthen the faith of the devotees, my family and I are ready to take an oath as witnesses of that God in the case of Tirumala prasad,” he challenged.

When asked if the state government was concerned about the issue being communalised, Anam Reddy said that the report had to be released to ‘bell the cat’.

“We had to do this to ensure that no one ever dared to mess with the sanctity of Tirumala again,” he concluded.