Vigilance. German brand Hipp announced the recall of its “carrot and potato” baby puree from Spar supermarkets in Austria on Friday evening, following the discovery of rat poison in a jar.
As part of ongoing investigations in Germany, police seized pots in Austria, as well as in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, police in the eastern Austrian province of Burgenland said in a statement. “A sample of the seized product was analyzed on Saturday afternoon and was found to be positive for rat poison,” she said.
A possible extortion attempt
The Austrian food protection agency estimated on Saturday that this substance could have been introduced as part of an extortion attempt. In a warning message on X this Sunday, the Czech police also claimed that this poisoning “is the work of a blackmailer”.
“The incident has no connection with product quality or manufacturing,” a Hipp spokesperson told AFP on Sunday, “affirming that the production, quality and control processes […] are fully operational. According to this source, the problem “exclusively” affects certain distribution channels, while Germany and other European countries which are not part of the investigation are not affected.
Customers were asked not to consume the product, identifiable by a white label with a red circle at the bottom of the jar, and to return it to the store where they purchased it.
Baby foods subject to frequent recalls
This alert is the latest to hit the baby food market. Since December, several manufacturers, including European giants like Nestlé, Danone and Lactalis, have recalled infant milks in more than 60 countries, likely to be contaminated by cereulide, a toxin.
Several infants who consumed powdered milk containing cereulide – which can cause nausea, vomiting and diarrhea – have died, according to French authorities. In March, French prosecutors said the death of an infant in January did not appear “to be linked” to the consumption of contaminated infant milk.
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