Austria’s police have confirmed that a jar from a batch of recalled baby food contained rat poison and urged consumers not to eat the product. Germany-based HiPP recalled the jars on Friday after warning that a “hazardous substance” may have been introduced into its carrot-with-potato puree sold at more than 1,000 SPAR supermarkets across Austria.
Police in Burgenland province said seized jars are being examined as part of an ongoing investigation in Germany. Authorities have confiscated affected products in Austria and in neighboring Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Laboratory tests on a customer-submitted 190-gram jar of the carrot-and-potato puree returned a positive result for rat poison on Saturday afternoon. Austria’s food protection agency said the contamination may be linked to an extortion scheme. Officials warned that consuming the product could be dangerous and recommended thorough hand washing for anyone who has handled the jars.
Investigators said suspicious jars can be identified by a white sticker with a red circle on the bottom; some containers also showed lids that appeared opened or otherwise damaged. HiPP said it could not rule out external criminal interference affecting the SPAR Austria distribution channel and warned that eating the suspect jars could be life-threatening. HiPP and SPAR said customers who return recalled jars will receive a full refund.
The incident comes amid several recent baby-food safety scares involving major producers, including Nestlé, Danone and Lactalis.