Austrian police said late Saturday that rat poison was discovered in a jar of HiPP baby food, prompting a recall of the product from about 1,500 SPAR supermarkets across the country over safety concerns.
Police in Burgenland stated that a sample taken from a 190-gram jar of carrot and potato baby food, reported by a customer in the Eisenstadt-Umgebung district, tested positive for rat poison.
HiPP said on Saturday that it could not be excluded that a hazardous substance had been introduced into the product, adding that its “HiPP Vegetable Carrot with Potato” jars may have been tampered with.
According to the police statement, the affected jars were identified by a sticker with a red circle on the base, along with lids that appeared opened, damaged, or lacking a safety seal, or that had an unusual odor.
Authorities also said initial laboratory tests on similar jars seized in the Czech Republic and Slovakia detected the presence of a toxic substance, though no further details were provided.
HiPP confirmed to Reuters on Sunday that the jars contained rat poison, and said retail partners in both countries had immediately withdrawn all HiPP baby food products from sale as a precautionary step.
Police also said Austrian authorities were alerted to the risk following investigations in Germany, though no additional details were disclosed.
“Products and distribution channels in Germany or other European countries that are not part of the investigations are not affected,” HiPP said.
HiPP said on Saturday: “According to our current knowledge, this critical situation involves an external criminal interference that affects the SPAR Austria distribution channel.”
SPAR Austria said on Sunday 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 have advised customers not to consume any jars purchased from SPAR Austria. They also said that customers would be given a full refund upon returning the affected products.
Police urged customers to thoroughly wash their hands if they had come into contact with any of the jars.
The Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety also said that immediate medical attention should be sought if infants had consumed the contaminated baby food.
