NEW DELHI : The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has issued a show-cause notice to a Tamil Nadu-based company, which supplied ghee to Tirumala temple for making laddus after animal fat was detected in four of its samples.The show-cause notice, accessed by this paper, mentions why action should not be initiated against the firm AR Dairy, one of the four companies that were supplying ghee to the famed Venkateswara temple in Andhra Pradesh.The company came under scrutiny after a report from a Gujarat-based laboratory found that the samples of ghee used in the Tirumala temple laddus contained palm oil, fish oil, beef tallow, and lard (pig fat). Official sources said the company supplied four samples for testing. “All the four failed the test and animal fat was detected,” they added.“After analysis, the sample from your firm M/s. AR Dairy Food Private Ltd (FSSAI Central License number 10014042001610) has failed to meet the parameters and your firm has been blacklisted by EO, TTD (Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD),” the FSSAI show-cause notice read. “By virtue of the above non-conformance of the product ‘Ghee’ manufactured by your firm which is not meeting the standards, you have contravened the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006, Rules and Regulations made there under,” it stated.“To show cause as to why, your Central License shall not be suspended for contravention of the above said provisions of the Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulation, 2011. The reply in this regard shall be sent by 23.09.2024 failing which suitable action will be initiated as per the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006 and Regulations made there under,” the notice added.Strongly denying the allegations of adulteration of ghee, the Tamil Nadu-based company has challenged the private laboratory’s findings.
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