Austrian police announced on Saturday evening that rat poison had been found in a jar of HiPP baby food, Reuters reports. The product has been withdrawn from more than 1,000 SPAR supermarkets in the country due to safety concerns.
Police in Burgenland, Austria, said in a statement that a sample taken from one of the 190-gram jars of “Carrots and Potatoes” baby food reported by a customer tested positive for rat poison.
HiPP said on Saturday that it could not rule out the possibility that a dangerous substance had been introduced into the product and that its 'Carrots and Potatoes' baby food jars could have been tampered with.
Consuming the contents of the jars could be life-threatening, HiPP said.
Police said the suspicious jars had a sticker with a red circle on the bottom of the jar and a lid that had already been opened, damaged or missing the safety seal, or had an unusual odor.
Police said initial lab tests on similar jars seized by police in the Czech Republic and Slovakia indicated the presence of a toxic substance. They did not provide any other details.
What HiPP says
Police also said authorities in Austria were alerted to the risk following investigations in Germany. No other information was provided in this case either.
“According to the information we currently have, this critical situation involves an external criminal intervention affecting the SPAR Austria distribution channel,” HiPP said on Saturday.
The manufacturer could not be reached by Reuters for further information.
A spokesman for SPAR, an extensive chain of supermarkets and hypermarkets across Austria, told Reuters on Saturday that the product recall was a precautionary measure and affected 1,500 stores in the country, with no impact on outlets in other countries.
SPAR and HiPP advised customers not to consume the contents of jars purchased from SPAR Austria. Representatives of the companies said that customers will receive money back for the returned products.
Police advised customers to wash their hands thoroughly if they came into contact with such a jar.
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