The company’s response came after TTD Executive Officer Shyamala Rao announced that four out of ten ghee tankers supplied by AR Dairy were found to be adulterated. The investigation followed complaints about the declining quality of the temple’s laddus, a popular prasadam (offering) given to devotees.

Kannan, a quality control officer at the Dindigul-based AR Dairy Food, denied allegations of adulteration and said there were rigorous quality checks at the company. ‘The allegations are severely damaging our reputation,

KMF managing director MK Jagadish said the Nandini Ghee supply was restored after the TTD awarded a tender to KMF a month ago. Nandini is the popular brand of the Karnataka Milk Federation.

A day after the TTD initiated legal action against the firm, the employee refuted the allegation that fish oil was used to prepare ghee.

In his comments to a Tamil news channel Friday, Kannan, a quality control officer at the Dindigul-based AR Dairy Food, called the allegations “unsubstantiated”.

In the past days the controversy around the sacred Tirupati Laddu has taken a centre stage in India as Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu alleged that animal fat, including beef tallow,

AR Dairy, a Tamil Nadu-based supplier of ghee to the renowned Tirumala Tirupati temple, has strongly denied allegations of animal fat