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Rat poison was found inside a jar of HiPP baby food, the Austrian police have said after the product was recalled from 1,500 SPAR supermarkets in the country over safety fears.
A statement from police in Burgenland said that a sample from one of the 190-gram jars of carrot with potato baby food reported by a customer in the Eisenstadt-Umgebung district had tested positive for rat poison.
HiPP said that 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 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.
The German-based company confirmed to Reuters yesterday that the jars did contain rat poison and that affected retail partners in both countries immediately removed all HiPP baby food jars from sale as a precautionary measure.
The police also said that authorities in Austria were warned about the risk after investigations in Germany. They provided no further details.
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