Rat poison found in HiPP baby food jar in Austria: Police

GENEVA – Police in Austria said late on April 18 that rat poison was found inside a jar of HiPP baby food, following a recall of the product from 1,500 SPAR supermarkets in the country over safety fears.

Police in Burgenland, Austria, said in a statement that a sample from one of the 190g jars of “carrots and potatoes” baby food reported by a customer had tested positive for rat poison.

HiPP had said on April 18 it could not be ruled out that a dangerous substance was introduced into the product and that its HiPP Vegetable Carrot with Potato jars may have been tampered with.

Consuming the contents of jars could be life-threatening, HiPP said.

The police statement said the affected jars had a sticker with a red circle on the bottom of the jar and a lid that had already been opened or damaged or missing a safety seal, or had an unusual smell.

They said initial lab tests on similar jars seized by police in the Czech Republic and Slovakia showed the presence of a toxic substance. The statement gave no further details.

HiPP told Reuters in a statement on April 19 that the jars did contain rat poison and, as a precautionary measure, the affected retail partners in both countries immediately removed all HiPP baby food jars from sale.

The police also said the authorities in Austria were warned about the risk following investigations in Germany. They provided no further details.

HiPP said on April 18: “According to our current knowledge, this critical situation involves an external criminal interference that affects the SPAR Austria distribution channel.”

The Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety said in a statement on April 19 that medical help must be sought immediately if babies had consumed the baby food.

SPAR Austria said on April 19 that it had removed the HiPP products in all countries where it runs businesses, including Austria, Slovenia, Hungary, Croatia and Northern Italy.

SPAR stores in other countries are not part of SPAR Austria, it added.

SPAR and HiPP advised customers not to consume the contents of the jars bought from SPAR Austria. They said customers would receive a full refund on returned products.

Police advised customers to wash hands thoroughly if they came into contact with an affected jar. REUTERS