As Tirupati Laddu Row Explodes, GPS Is Being Used To Track Ghee In Karnataka

Bengaluru: Amid row over substandard 'ghee' used in Tirupati laddus, Karnataka Milk Federation has installed a geo-positioning system (GPS) on its vehicles that supply ghee to the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), which manages the Tirupati temple.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."We restored the supply of ghee (to TTD) a month ago. We have installed GPS and Geo Location Devices on the vehicles to find where they stop. This is to ensure that nowhere adulteration happens," Jagadish told PTI.He said the KMF got the contract to supply 350 tonnes of ghee."We will supply ghee as and when required," he added.

What's The Controversy?The controversy started after the Gujarat-based National Dairy Board, which tested the ghee used in preparing the Tirupati laddus, found traces of "foreign fat", its report revealed by the TDP Thursday said. According to the report by National Dairy Development Board's Centre of Analysis and Learning in Livestock and Food, accessed by TIMES NOW, the ghee sample revealed the presence of "beef tallow, pig fat, and fish oil". Amidst the ongoing war of words between the TDP and the YSRCP over the adulteration of Tirupati prasad, TDP spokesperson Anam Venkata Ramana Reddy presented the lab report at press conference Thursday. The sample receipt was recorded on July 9, 2024, and the report was dated July 16.The report described its methodology, stating, "The S value of all equations for sample coded as AB021253 are falling out of the range as prescribed by method. If any S-value falls outside the corresponding limits, consider the sample to contain a foreign fat."The report listed potential foreign fats, which included soybean, sunflower, olive, rapeseed, linseed, wheat germ, maize germ, cottonseed, fish oil, coconut and palm kernel fat, palm oil, beef tallow, and lard.