Laddoo Controversy: All You Need To Know About The Raging Controversy Centering On Tirupati Laddoo

On Wednesday, the findings of a laboratory test report erupted as a major source of controversy as the report was none other than the one that tested the Tirupati Laddoo and confirmed the presence of “foreign” fats, as per the claims of sitting Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Chandrababu Naidu.

Why is the Tirupati Laddoo particularly significant?

The laddoo, a traditional Indian spherical sweet made of mainly flour, jaggery or sugar and ghee, is served as Naivedhyam (a Sanskrit word meaning an offering to deities) to Lord Venkateswara at Tirupati Balaji Temple, Andhra Pradesh. These laddoos, popularly known as Tirupati Laddoo or Sri Vari Laddu, served as prasadam to the devotees who came to the Temple from across the world after being offered to the Lord as food as an important part of the worship ritual. The Tirupati laddoo is considered Maha prasadam and holds a significant religious value for the devotees.

According to ancient scripture like Bṛhad-viṣṇu Purāṇa, Mahaprasadam is basically considered as the remnants of food touched by the deity and has a transcendental value which does not allow any contaminations or transformations similar to the body of Lord Vishnu, which does not undergo any kind of contaminations or transformations and therefore the ultimate source of purity. The scripture also argues that one who fails to distinguish between ordinary edibles and Mahaprasadam is a serious offender, and the sin is unredeemable. It is this spiritual import that makes the alleged report findings so controversial.

If proven to be true, it can have severe ramifications for the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanamas (TTD), which is an independent government trust entrusted with the management of Tirumala Venkateswara Temple in Andhra Pradesh. The practice of serving the laddoo at Tirumala Temple started on August 2, 1715. The Tirupati laddoo received the Geographical Indication (GI) Tag in 2009, which entitled the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanamas exclusive right to make and sell them and prevented others from preparing or naming the sweet having the same name. The consecrated Tirupati laddoo is prepared within the temple kitchen, known as ‘Potu’. The Tirupati laddoo is prepared in accordance with religious practices, and each batch of laddoo preparation containing 5100 pieces is called Dittam.

How did it all erupt?

The analysis was done at the insistence of the current Telugu Desam Party (TDP) Government after it received complaints of a change in taste in the Tirupati laddoos. The Government appointed an expert committee in June that constitutes, among others, the former principal scientist of the National Dairy Research Institute, Vijaywada, to check the quality of the laddoo. While the Committee suggested several measures to ensure adequate quality checks for the Tirupati laddoos, it also sent the sample of ghee to The National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), Gujarat. The result of the sample test has offered an opportune moment for the serving Andhra Pradesh Government to attack its predecessor.

What are the findings of the laboratory test report?

The page of a laboratory report with reference no. AB023654, which went viral on social media and is being circulated widely by citizens and politicians from the Opposition alike, shows the presence of “Fish Oil”, “Lard”, and “Beef Tallow” as foreign fat constituting the sample of ghee tested.

Responses by former supplier

TTD supplies an estimate of three lakh laddoos per day at Tirumala from which it earns Rs 500 crore annually. To ensure a steady supply of chief ingredients like Bengal flour, ghee, nuts, raisins, sugar, and cardamom for the prasadam, TTD relies on its contractors. To further complicate the matter and add weight to the charges, now Nandini, a popular brand dairy brand has chipped in.

A statement on its part claims that it has discontinued the supply of ghee under the previous YRCP regime as the price of ghee sold by Karnataka Milk Federation Nandini reached Rs. 400 per kilogram in 2023. Founded in 1974, KMF is the second largest dairy co-operative in the country and ranks one in South India in terms of procurement and sales.

The price was much higher compared to other companies, which offered ghee at a much lower rate. As Nandini was not ready to compromise on its quality, therefore it decided not to participate in the tender process. It was only after the regime change that Nandini resumed its supply in August. TTD has confirmed the response of Nandini as it said that cow ghee for the laddoo preparation was procured from now-blacklisted AR Dairy Foods, Dindigul, in Tamil Nadu at Rs 320 per kg, whereas now it gets ghee from KMF at Rs 475 per kg.

The political slugfest

The TDP Government headed by Chandrababu Naidu has blamed the Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) Government headed by Jagmohan Reddy for the ghee adulteration charges. The YSRCP Government, which was in power till 2024 until TDP won the election held recently in May 2024, has vehemently opposed the charges. The YRCP has now moved to the High Court demanding an investigation by a single judge or a court-appointed Committee into the allegations that it considers an attempt to malign its image. It has been asked by the High Court Bench to file a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) within September 25.

While a section of BJP leaders has called for legal action for hurting the religious sentiments of the Hindus, the Deputy Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Pawan Kalyan, called for the establishment of the Sanatana Dharma Rakshana Board to look after all temple-related matters across India.

TDP Government not only made public the alleged lab test report, but its spokesperson blamed the multivendor contract subsystem that was entrusted with the procurement of ghee for destroying the sanctity of the Tirupati laddoo. It also blamed the previous Government for favoritism while choosing the contractors. The claim is implicitly supported by Nandini’s response as it resumed supplying ghee as recently as August after having been a supplier for almost 15 years before its ousting under the YSRCP regime.

Amidst the raging controversy, the now-blacklisted contractor AR Dairy defends itself from the charges, claiming that their products were certified by the requisite authorities. It claims that it has supplied ghee only during the June and July months of the current year, along with other vendors for the preparation of the Tirupati laddoo.

Is all well with the report?

Amidst the shocking development, a section of social media users are also questioning the veracity of the report as the page that has been doing rounds is an isolated one and has no direct reference to the Committee Report. Moreover, whether the ghee sample tested has been used in the preparation of the Tirupati laddoo has not been mentioned anywhere in the page.

However, the single-page image of the alleged report that is at the center of the row and creating severe outrage has highlighted the circumstances under which a false positive can be obtained. The conditions range from overfeeding the cow with pure vegetable oils to subjecting the cows to technological treatment such as removal of cholesterol or fractionation. Other circumstances include milk fat obtained from colostrums or cheese showing increased lipolysis or has been extracted by using methods like Gerber, Weibull-Berntrop or Schmid-Bondzynsky-Ratzlaff or isolated using detergent or obtained from cows that are severely underfed.

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