Vienna– countries across central Europe Baby food was removed from shelves on Monday after rat poison was found in some jars HiPP brand over the weekend.
austria The Health Minister asked parents, kindergartens and day care centers to exercise extreme caution when feeding HiPP to young children. The company recalled some of its baby food jars because there were also samples slovakia and this czech republic Tested positive for rat poison.
Authorities believe 190 gram (6.7 oz) jars of baby food made from carrots and potatoes for 5-month-old babies that were sold at SPAR supermarkets in Austria were tampered with. The first sample tested positive on Saturday.
On Monday, Austrian authorities said they were searching for a second jar of baby food that may have contained the poison. Austrian news agency APA reported that it may have been sold at a Spar supermarket in the eastern city of Eisenstadt.
“It is deeply disturbing that someone is willing to put the health of babies at risk for criminal purposes,” Health Minister Corinna Schumann told APA.
In the Czech Republic, two jars of Hypp baby food that were confirmed to be poisoned were found in a store in the city of Brno. The state prosecution in Brno confirmed the discovery but did not provide further details, citing a police investigation.
Germany-based HiPP said that in addition to Czechia, contaminated jars were also found in Slovakia. The company said that “retail partners in both countries have already removed all jars of HiPP baby food from sale as a precaution.”
Slovak police said they were investigating suspicious jars from a store in the town of Dunajská Strada.
slovenia Its health inspectorate said it immediately began recalling all HiPP products from the shelves of Spar and other supermarkets.
Austrian officials also arrived hungary Officials say that people living in the border area near Eisenstadt may have bought the jars filled with poison.
Burgenland police in Austria said suspect products likely had a white sticker with a red circle on the bottom of the jar. Other warning signs include damaged or open lids and unusual or foul odors. There may not be a popping sound when the jar is first opened.
The Burgenland public prosecutor’s office was investigating the case as “deliberate endangerment of the public”.
HiPP said last week that the recall “is not due to any product or quality defect on our part. The jar left our HiPP facility in perfect condition.”
HiPP said it was recalling all its baby food jars Precaution is sold in SPAR supermarkets in Austria – including SPAR, EuroSPAR, INTERSPAR and Maximarkt stores.
rat poison According to the Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety, it typically contains bromadiolone, which prevents blood from clotting. Ingesting rat poison can cause bleeding gums and nose, as well as bruising and blood in the stool.
The agency said symptoms may appear two to five days after consumption.
