Jars of baby food deliberately tampered with rat poison and discovered in Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia were part of an attempted extortion plot targeting German manufacturer HiPP, authorities said on Monday.
The discovery followed an urgent recall issued over the weekend by Austrian supermarket chain SPAR. Police warned, however, that one additional contaminated jar may still be unaccounted for in Austria.
Austrian police confirmed on Saturday that the tainted jar found in the country tested positive for rat poison.
HiPP said in a statement that it was the victim of an extortion attempt after receiving a message from the perpetrator. While the company confirmed the jars had been tampered with, it did not specify the substance involved.
Authorities warned consumers to remain vigilant for baby food jars containing a potato-and-carrot blend. Austrian officials said the affected jars had been opened and marked with a white sticker bearing a red circle on the bottom. Because the jars had already been opened, their lids would not produce the usual popping sound when twisted.
German police said the Ingolstadt prosecutor’s office is overseeing an investigation into unnamed suspects on suspicion of attempted extortion against HiPP. Officers said they acted immediately after becoming aware of an email believed to have been sent by those responsible on 16 April.
While police did not disclose details of the demands, Austrian newspaper Die Presse reported that an earlier email was sent to HiPP on 27 March, demanding a payment of €2 million ($2.35 million). The report said the perpetrators threatened to poison two jars of baby food in each of three specified supermarkets in Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia if the payment was not made by 2 April.
HiPP said the message was sent to an unpersonalised collective email address that is not monitored continuously, and that authorities were informed immediately once the company became aware of the threat.
The company stressed that the incident was unrelated to the quality or safety of its production process.
“This was a criminal, external manipulation beyond our control in three individual stores,” HiPP said, adding that it is not aware of any further cases of tampering.
Authorities continue to urge caution as the investigation remains ongoing and efforts continue to locate the potentially missing jar.
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