A 39-year-old man has been detained in Austria in connection with an attempted blackmail case in which rat poison was placed in jars of baby food made by the German brand HiPP, the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Eisenstadt told Germany’s DPA news agency.
Police said the arrest took place in Burgenland, in southern Austria, though earlier reports named Salzburg. The prosecutor’s office confirmed the suspect has been held and is being questioned; his identity has not been released for tactical reasons while the investigation continues.
Authorities say an unknown person tried to extort money from HiPP by contaminating its products. Last month, five “manipulated” jars were found safely in Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia before they could be consumed, prompting a product recall in Austria. German police joined the inquiry because the jars were manufactured by a German company.
In Austria investigators found 15 micrograms of rat poison in a 190-gram jar of “carrots with potatoes” seized after it was purchased at a Spar supermarket in Eisenstadt. The exact type of poison has not been disclosed. Police are searching for a second potentially contaminated jar in Austria. HiPP says its German product range was not affected.
Austrian newspaper Die Presse reported that an email demanding €2 million ($2.3 million) within six days was sent to HiPP in March; the company only noticed the message about two weeks after the deadline had passed. HiPP said the email was sent to a group address that is not checked frequently.
HiPP is a family-run company founded in Bavaria more than 120 years ago. Its German headquarters and main production facility are in Pfaffenhofen an der Ilm; the parent company, HiPP Holding AG, is based in Sachseln, Switzerland.
Edited by: Saim Dušan Inayatullah