Rat poison found in baby food jar in Austria: police
Rat poison was found in a jar of HiPP baby food, Austrian police said, after the product was withdrawn from 1,500 SPAR supermarkets in the country due to safety fears.
In a statement from the Burgenland police, it was stated that a sample taken from one of the 190-gram potato baby food carrot jars reported by a customer in the Eisenstadt-Umgebung area tested positive for rat poison.
HiPP had said on Saturday that it could not be ruled out that a hazardous substance was involved in the product and that the HiPP Vegetable Carrot Potato Jar may have been tampered with.
HiPP said consuming the content could be life-threatening.
Austrian authorities believe the company is being blackmailed.
The affected jars had a sticker with a red circle on the bottom and the lid was already opened, damaged, missing a security seal or had an unusual odor, the police statement said.
They said initial laboratory tests on similar jars seized by police in the Czech Republic and Slovakia showed the presence of a toxic substance.
No further details were given in the statement.
HiPP confirmed to Reuters on Sunday that the jars contained rat poison and that its retail partners in both countries immediately removed all affected HiPP baby food jars from sale as a precautionary measure.
Police also said authorities in Austria were warned of the risk following investigations in Germany.
They did not provide further details.
“Products and distribution channels that are not part of investigations in Germany or other European countries will not be affected,” HiPP said.
“According to our current information, this critical situation involves an external criminal intervention affecting the SPAR Austria distribution channel,” HiPP said on Saturday.
SPAR Austria said on Sunday that it had removed HiPP products in all countries where it operates, including Austria, Slovenia, Hungary, Croatia and Northern Italy.
He added that SPAR stores in other countries are not part of SPAR Austria.
SPAR and HiPP advised their customers not to consume the contents of jars purchased from SPAR Austria.
They said customers will receive full refunds for returned items.
Police advised customers to wash their hands thoroughly if they came into contact with the jar.
The Austrian Health and Food Safety Agency said that if babies consume contaminated baby food, medical attention should be sought immediately.
with DPA
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