PRAGUE — Countries across Central Europe pulled baby food off the shelves Monday after rat poison was discovered in some jars of the HiPP brand over the weekend.
Austria’s health minister told parents, kindergartens and day care centers to use utmost caution when feeding young children HiPP. The company recalled some of its baby food jars because samples there as well as in Slovakia and the Czech Republic tested positive for rat poison.
Authorities believe tampering occurred in 6.7-ounce jars of baby food made with carrots and potatoes for 5-month-old children that were sold at SPAR supermarkets in Austria. 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 poison. It may have been sold at a Spar supermarket in the eastern town of Eisenstadt, Austrian news agency APA reported.
“It is deeply disturbing that someone is apparently willing to endanger the health of babies for criminal motives,” Health Minister Korinna Schumann told APA.
Slovakia and Czech Republic take action
In the Czech Republic, two jars of HiPP baby food that tested positive for the poison were found in a store in the city of Brno. The state prosecution in Brno confirmed the find but did not give further details, citing a police investigation.
The Germany-based HiPP said that besides Czechia, contaminated jars were discovered 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 city of Dunajska Streda.
Slovenia began preemptively withdrawing all HiPP products from shelves of Spar and other supermarkets, its health inspectorate said.
Austrian authorities also reached out to Hungarian officials, saying a poisoned jar may have been purchased by people living in the border region near Eisenstadt.
Poisoned jars likely have white sticker with a red circle
Burgenland Police in Austria said the suspicious products likely have a white sticker with a red circle on the bottom of the jar. Other warning signs include a damaged or opened lid and an unusual or spoiled smell. There might not be a popping noise when the jar is first opened.
The Burgenland public prosecutor’s office was investigating the case as “intentional endangerment of the public.”
HiPP last week said the recall “is not due to any product or quality defect on our part. The jars left our HiPP facility in perfect condition.”
HiPP said it was recalling all of its baby food jars sold at Austria’s SPAR supermarkets — which include SPAR, EUROSPAR, INTERSPAR and Maximarkt stores — in Austria as a precaution.
Rat poison typically includes bromadiolone, which prevents blood from clotting, according to the Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety. Ingesting rat poison could lead to bleeding gums and nosebleeds as well as bruising and blood in the stool.
Symptoms could appear two to five days after ingestion, the agency said.
In Prague, Ester Svetlik Danelova, who is currently on maternity leave, told the Associated Press that “the situation is worrying,” for her family.
“I have three kids, and we definitely use this (baby food) throughout their lives,” she said, adding that “on the bright side, it means I cook more at home now.”
Janicek and Grieshaber write for the Associated Press. Grieshaber reported from Berlin. AP journalist Stanislav Hodina contributed to this report from Prague.
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