Rat poison discovered in baby food jar prompts Austrian product recall

HiPP removed all baby food jars from Austrian SPAR stores after police confirmed toxic substance in tampered product.

Rat poison was found in a jar of HiPP baby food sold in Austria, prompting the manufacturer to recall products from approximately 1,500 SPAR-operated supermarkets, police and company officials said over the weekend¹².

Police in Burgenland state said a sample from a 190-gram jar of carrot with potato baby food reported by a customer in the Eisenstadt-Umgebung district tested positive for rat poison¹. The affected jars had a sticker with a red circle on the bottom and either an opened or damaged lid, a missing safety seal, or an unusual smell¹.

HiPP, a Swiss manufacturer that describes itself as the world's leading organic baby food brand, confirmed on Sunday that the jars contained rat poison and said consuming the contents could be life-threatening¹². The company said the recall was not due to quality problems in its production processes².

"The jars left our HiPP facility in perfect condition. The recall is related to a criminal act currently under investigation by the authorities," the company said in a statement².

The recall affects all HiPP baby food jars sold at SPAR, EUROSPAR, INTERSPAR and Maximarkt stores in Austria². Initial laboratory tests on similar jars seized by police in the Czech Republic and Slovakia also showed the presence of a toxic substance¹. Retail partners in both countries removed all HiPP baby food jars from sale as a precautionary measure¹.

Austrian authorities were warned about the risk after investigations in Germany, police said, though they provided no further details¹. HiPP said products and distribution channels in Germany and other European countries not part of the investigations were not affected¹. The company said it was in close contact with investigating authorities².