Austrian authorities have recalled an entire range of jarred baby food purées after rat poison was discovered in a jar of HiPP carrot and potato baby food sold in the Burgenland region, the easternmost state of Austria bordering Hungary. Police warned that other jars of the same flavour could also be contaminated, describing the contents as potentially life-threatening even in small quantities.
The discovery followed a tip linked to an ongoing investigation in Germany, where HiPP — a German-origin organic baby food brand — is headquartered. Acting on that information, detectives in the area around Eisenstadt, a city roughly 60 kilometres south of Vienna, seized a jar and confirmed it contained a toxic substance identified as rat poison. Austrian health authorities believe the contamination is likely part of an extortion attempt targeting the manufacturer. A HiPP spokesperson described the incident as an "external criminal act," adding that consuming even a single small jar could be life-threatening.
As a precautionary measure, HiPP has recalled its entire range of jarred purées sold through Spar supermarkets — which include Eurospar, Interspar and Maximarkt outlets — across more than 1,500 stores in Austria. The recall covers all flavours, not just the carrot and potato variety suspected of being tampered with. Spar confirmed the recall and said customers could return any purchased jars for a full refund. Police in Burgenland have asked the public for information, noting that affected jars may be identified by a white sticker with a red circle on their base.
The scope of the contamination remains unclear. Authorities initially indicated that supermarkets in the Czech Republic had also been affected, and police later confirmed that suspicious jars with "a toxic additive" had been seized in both the Czech Republic and Slovakia. HiPP stressed that its products sold in other countries are not affected, and that baby food available in shops other than those within the Spar group in Austria also falls outside the recall.
The incident adds to growing concern about the safety of commercial baby food following separate recalls earlier this year, when Nestlé and Danone withdrew batches of infant formula from more than 60 countries after babies fell ill with food poisoning linked to a bacterial toxin. Unlike those incidents, which involved manufacturing contamination, Austrian authorities believe this case involves deliberate outside interference — raising the stakes for both law enforcement and the wider food industry.