DigitEye India Fact Checkers
The adulterated ghee supplied to Sri Venkateswara Temple in Tirupati to make laddus has come under radar and the company A.R. Dairy Food has come under severe attack on social media with a claim that it was primarily employing Muslim employees, who allegedly mixed animal fat in ghee leading to contamination of laddus, which should be prepared purely from cow ghee.
తిరుపతి దేవస్థానానికి దేశీ నెయ్యి సరఫరా చేసిన కంపెనీ డైరెక్టర్లు మరియు యజమానులు.
The board of directors and the owners of the company which supplied desi ghee to Thirupati temple.#TirupatiLadduControversy pic.twitter.com/qYNiFVqVLN— Aerpula Venkata Ramana (@AVRBJP) September 28, 2024
The claim in Telugu reads: “తిరుపతి దేవస్థానానికి దేశీ నెయ్యి సరఫరా చేసిన కంపెనీ డైరెక్టర్లు మరియు యజమానులు.
The board of directors and the owners of the company which supplied desi ghee to Thirupati temple.”
The same has been shared in Hindi as: “तिरूपति बालाजी मे देसी घी की सप्लाई करने वाली कंपनी ए आर फूड प्राइवेट लिमिटेड है जो कि तमिलनाडु की है . उस कंपनी के टॉप मैनेजमेंट के नाम की लिस्ट नीचे संलग्न है और हाँ उस समय जगन मोहन रेड्डी सरकार ने मंदिर ट्रस्ट के लिए जिसे अध्यक्ष नियुक्त किया था वो भी रेड्डी की तरह एक कैथोलिक क्रिस्टीयन था स्टेट सराकर ने । सक्षम लोगों को सुप्रीम कोर्ट में रेड्डी के खिलाफ ईश् निंदा का केस दायर करना चाहिए.”
Translated into English, it reads: “AR Food Pvt. Limited is the company that supplies desi ghee in Tirupati Balaji which belongs to Tamil Nadu. The list of top management names of the company is attached below. And yes at that time Jagan Mohan Reddy government appointed president for temple trust was also a Catholic Christian like Reddy by State Sarakar. Capable people should file a case against Reddy in Supreme Court.”
Based in Tamil Nadu, AR Foods is the company which operates a retail brand named ‘Raaj Milk’ and has been supplying ghee to the temple. It may be recollected that the company was among the top suppliers of ghee based on tenders called by Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) and duly given the task when Jagan Mohan Reddy was Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister from 2019 to 2024, hence he became the target of attacks by social media posts.
FACT CHECK
Owing to the sensitive nature of the claim, Digiteye India checked for the company AR Foods’ home page but none of the names (all Muslims) listed in the social media post were seen in the management. Instead the CEO of the company is Ravi Chandran R., who is obviously not a Muslim.
However, further search revealed that there is another company in Pakistan by name A.R. Foods (Pvt) Limited, having primarily Muslim employees. Hence, the claim linking this company to claim that all the employees of the ghee supplying company in Tamil Nadu are Muslims is totally false.
Claim: The board of directors and the owners of the company which supplied desi ghee to Thirupati temple are all Muslims.
Conclusion: Misrepresentation. The list of a similarly named Pakistani company was shown to claim it’s Coimbatore-based AR Foods.
Rating: Misrepresentation — 
