Baby Food Recall Due To Rat Poison Contamination
PRAGUE (AP) — Countries in the Center Europe It removed baby food from shelves on Monday after rat poison was found in some jars. HiPP brand for the weekend.
Austria The health minister told parents, kindergartens and day care centers to be very careful when feeding young children HiPP. The company recalled some of its baby food jars because samples there and inside Slovakia And czech republic Tested positive for rat poison.
Authorities believe tampering has occurred in 190-gram (6.7-ounce) jars of baby food made from carrots and potatoes for children as young as 5 months old, sold at SPAR supermarkets in Austria. The first sample tested positive on Saturday.
On Monday, Austrian authorities said they were looking for a second jar of baby food that may have been poisoned. According to the Austrian news agency APA, it is stated that the product may have been sold in a Spar supermarket in the eastern town of Eisenstadt.
“It is extremely disturbing that someone would be willing to endanger the health of babies for criminal purposes,” Health Minister Korinna Schumann told APA.
Slovakia and Czech Republic take action
Two jars of HiPP baby food that tested positive for poison were found in a store in Brno, Czech Republic. The state prosecutor’s office in Brno confirmed the finding but did not provide further details, citing the police investigation.
Germany-based HiPP said contaminated jars were found in Slovakia as well as the Czech Republic. The company said “retail partners in both countries have removed all HiPP baby food jars from sale as a precaution.”
Slovak police said they were investigating suspicious jars in a store in the town of Dunajska Streda.
Slovenia The health inspectorate said it had begun a pre-emptive withdrawal of all HiPP products from the shelves of Spar and other supermarkets.
Austrian officials also rushed to help Hungarian Authorities said the poisoned jar may have been purchased by people living in the border area near Eisenstadt.
Poison jars likely have a white label with a red circle
Burgenland Police in Austria said the suspect products probably had a white label with a red circle at the bottom of the jar. Other warning signs include a damaged or opened lid and an unusual or spoiled odor. There may be no popping sound when the jar is first opened.
The Burgenland prosecutor’s office was investigating the incident for “intentional endangerment of the public”.
Last week, HiPP said the recall was “not due to any product or quality defect on our part. The jars left our HiPP facility in excellent condition.”
HiPP says it is recalling all its products baby food jars It is sold as a precaution in SPAR supermarkets, including SPAR, EUROSPAR, INTERSPAR and Maximarkt stores in Austria.
rat poison It typically contains bromadiolone, which prevents blood clotting, according to the Austrian Health and Food Safety Agency. Ingesting rat poison can cause bleeding gums and nosebleeds, as well as bruising and blood in the stool.
Symptoms may appear two to five days after eating, the agency said.
Ester Svetlik Danelova, who is currently on maternity leave in Prague, told The Associated Press that “the situation is worrying” for her family.
“I have three kids and we’ve been using it (baby food) absolutely all their lives,” she said. “The upside is it means I cook more at home now.”
Grieshaber reported from Berlin. Associated Press journalist Stanislav Hodina contributed from Prague.
