Rat poison found in HiPP baby food jar in Austria, police say

Geneva: Police in Austria said late on Saturday 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 a sample from one of the 190-gram jars of "Carrots and Potatoes" baby food reported by a customer in the Eisenstadt-Umgebung district had tested positive for rat poison.

HiPP had said ​on Saturday 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 Sunday 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 authorities in Austria were warned about the risk following investigations in Germany. They provided no further details.

"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."

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

A SPAR spokesperson told Reuters on Saturday that the product recall was a precautionary measure and affected 1,500 stores in ​Austria, with no impact on outlets elsewhere.

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 a jar.