Screenshot Of Employee Profiles Of Pak Company Falsely Linked To Tirupati Temple Prasad’s Accused Ghee Supplier.
A screenshot of employee names of a company going viral on social media linking it to the Tirupati Temple Prasad controversy. Sharing the screenshot, social media users are claiming that this is the company that got the contract to make the Prasad for Tirupati Temple. The screenshot shows some of the employee names of A.R.Foods (Pvt) Limited. Sharing the screenshot on Facebook, users wrote, "Name and shame these people who got the contract to make prasadam for TIRUPATHI temple, looking at these names no wonder that beef fat and other non-vegetarian ingredients were found mixed in the prasadam and unsuspecting devotees visiting Tirupathi temple ate this prasadam. Can a Hindu run a waqf board or any other Muslim organization in India? What we need is precisely that: Hindus in Waqf board and total Hindu control of temples without any government interference".
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The same screenshot was forwarded to our 24X7 Factline number, 9049053770, with the same claim.
However, as we investigated, we came to know that the claim was false. The company in the viral screenshot is located in Islamabad, Pakistan. This is not the supplier of Tirupati Temple Prasad. Here's the fact check.
Fact Check
We started our investigation by conducting a relevant keyword search. This led us to a news report published on News18 on 20 September 2024, where the name of one of the companies that supplied ghee to Tirupati Temple was mentioned as "Raaj Milk - AR Dairy Food Private Limited" in Tamil Nadu's Dindigul. The name of the Managing Director was mentioned as Rajasekaran Raju.
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Taking this clue we searched for the company details and found the website of the company Raaj Milk (A.R. Dairy Food Private Limited). According to the website, the names of the directors of the company are- Rajasekaran Raju, Suria Prabha R and Srinivasan S R. The company was founded in 1995.
According to a report published in ANI on 23 September 2024, "The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has issued a show cause notice to AR Dairy Food Private Ltd, one of the suppliers of ghee for making Tirupati Prasadam. As per the notice, it is said that the sample sent for testing of AR Dairy failed to meet the parameters..."
Moving forward, we searched for A.R.Foods (Pvt) Limited, the name written in the viral screenshot. This led us to a LinkedIn profile according to which the company is located in Islamabad, Pakistan. The company was founded in 1970. The description in the profile reads, "Try to imagine fascinating and aromatic packed spices, savoury tasty toasty snacks and gorgeous qualitative instant food and bells shall toll to bring the name of the House of A.R. FOODS to your mind, the pioneers and trend setters of natural ingredients, variegated tastes and delicious nourishment.
The history of A.R. FOODS – A renowned name that brings you absolute satisfaction, reliability, credibility and efficiency both domestically and internationally, is full of romance and adventure in packed delicacies of “PHOOL” spices, “APPETA” snacks and “Instant Food”.
It spans a period of more than seven decades of sweat, ingenuity, dedicated marketing and affection of three generations in a row to market only the best to fulfil your un-met requirements and put dreams of needs into realities. Only the best has always been the creed, the manifesto and the philosophy that grew from a small enterprise into mega size campus that conforms and vibrates the highest international hygienic standards and which can boasts of latest state-of-art technology, presently a living legend of success of iron will and firm determination of the three generations".
Taking this clue, we searched for the employee names of the company, which led us to the website, "Rocket Search", where we found the company details and the employee profiles. According to the website the company is located in Islamabad, Pakistan.
The viral screenshot of employee profiles was taken from this website but in the viral screenshot, the locations of the employees were erased. A comparison between the two can be seen below.
The company's official website can be seen here. The company primarily deals with spices under the brand name "Phool".
This makes it clear that A.R. Foods (Pvt) Limited and A R Dairy Food Private Limited are two different companies. The company in question is A R Dairy Food Private Limited, Tamil Nadu, not the Pakistan-based company A.R.Foods (Pvt) Limited.
Conclusion
From our investigation, we can say that the claim is false. The company A R Foods (Pvt) Limited, whose employee names are in the viral screenshot, is located in Islamabad, Pakistan. On the other hand, the name of one of the suppliers of ghee for making Tirupati Prasadam in question is A R Dairy Food Private Limited which is located in Tamil Nadu's Dindigul. In the viral screenshot, the location section has been erased and falsely linked to A R Dairy Food Private Limited.