©picture alliance / Wagner | Ulrich Wagner
Rat poison was found in a number of baby food jars made by German manufacturer Hipp in several European countries. On Saturday evening, it became known that Austrian police arrested a 39-year-old suspect in the state of Burgenland.
Austrian public broadcaster ORF reports that the suspect allegedly extorted the baby food manufacturer and demanded 2 million euros worth of crypto currency.
Five poisoned jars have already been found in Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The jars were intercepted in time, even before they were consumed. However, a sixth poisoned jar is still being sought in Austria. And that is a battle against time, because in one of the jars sold in a supermarket in Eisenstadt, 60 kilometers south of Vienna, 15 micrograms of rat poison was found which is a life-threatening dose. As a precaution, jars of Hipp baby food with carrot and potato were immediately removed from shelves in Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. And the supermarket chain is trying to recall all jars of baby food sold with a recall. Police report that the suspected perpetrators put a white sticker with a red circle on the bottom of the tampered jars.
Manufacturer Hipp stressed that there was nothing wrong with the production process, but that it was poisoning carried out by an outsider.
It was the German police who tracked down the poisoning and put Austrian colleagues on the right track. The company is originally from Germany and has a large production facility in Bavaria. According to Hipp, there is no reason to believe there is rat poison in products in other European countries.
©picture alliance / Wagner | Ulrich Wagner