Tirupati: Paper boxes to replace plastic bags for laddus

Tirupati: After decades of trial and error, the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) has come up with an alternative to the plastic carry bags which are currently being used for the distribution of the Srivari laddus — paper containers manufactured with food grade paper.

These containers can keep the laddu fresh even after 10 days without oxidising the ghee in it. The new paper containers could be introduced by January next year. The new system was adopted based on the one followed at the Srisailam temple.

The Tirumala temple produces up to 4 lakh laddus per day and uses plastic carry bags that are thicker than 50 microns. Though the carry bags are not illegal, it works against the blanket ban on plastic atop the hill.

With this in view, the TTD management came up with the idea of food grade paper containers.

TTD executive officer Anil Kumar Singhal said, “As laddus are made with ghee, they get oxidised if carried in cloth or paper bags which makes them unfit for consumption. The ghee in the laddus is absor-bed by the carry bag and the laddus will become dry. ”

He said that as suggested by TTD joint executive off-icer K.S. Srinivasa Raju the trust had brought food grade paper containers and conducted random tests at the laboratory.  “We noticed that the paper containers kept the laddu fresh and on par with the bio-degradable plastic car-ry bags and hence we dec-ided to introduce the food grade paper containers to distribute the laddus.”

The temple management has called for a limited number of food grade paper containers with a capacity of one, two and four laddus. After the trial run, the TTD will increase the production of paper containers.