Amid Tirupati laddu row, Rajasthan to check purity of temple prasadam in special drive

Jaipur: After the claims of animal fat found in Tirupati temple’s laddus distributed as prasadams, Rajasthan is launching a special campaign to check the purity of the prasadams handed out to its devotees in temples across the state.

The drive from September 23 to 26 will test the purity of the bhogs and prasadams being distributed and would be part of Shudh Ahaar, Milawat par waar (Pure food, war on adulteration) campaign, which was launched by Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma on World Food Safety Day on June 7 this year.

The drive would be conducted in all the big temples where prasadam is distributed daily. Hygiene and cleanliness would also be checked and monitored in the temple premises and especially kitchens.

According to Food Safety department officials, at least 54 temples have applied for bhog certification till now. Officials in groups of special teams would inspect these temples.

Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) had launched the Eat Right Movement in 2018 to improve public health and combat negative nutritional trends to lifestyle diseases.

Under its temple prasadam Initiative known as BHOG (Blissful Hygienic Offering to God), the aim has been to improve hygiene and sanitation standards of places of worship.

This initiative certifies places of worship based on pre-defined benchmarks as per Schedule 4 requirements of the FSS Act. The whole movement is to ensure safe and hygienic food provided by places of worship and vendors in surrounding areas for devotees. The certificate provided to the temple would have a validity of two years. There is a review after every six months.

Rajasthan has at least 14 temples, which have the FSSAI’s BHOG certification. Jaipur’s famous and most popular Ganesh Mandir at Moti Dongri was the first temple to obtain this certification in the state.