This is how the press release from one of Germany's largest baby food manufacturers begins. Over the weekend, jars appeared in Austria, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia whose contents were contaminated with rat poison. The Austrian national food safety agency AGES has issued a warning, while the supermarket chain SPAR has initiated a product recall. Police are intensively searching for the perpetrator.
The criminal police in Ingolstadt announced on Monday, following an investigation by DW, that an investigation is underway against an unknown person for "suspicion of attempted blackmail." This police department is responsible because Hipp's headquarters is located in the southeastern German city of Pfaffenhofen an der Ilm. Police report five jars seized in three locations.
The first jar appeared near Eisenstadt in Gradisce, the easternmost federal province of Austria. Initial laboratory analyses showed that the 190-gram jar with carrots and potatoes was poisoned with rat poison. The search for a second suspected poisoned jar is still ongoing. Two other contaminated jars were discovered in a supermarket in the Czech city of Brno.
The state prosecutor's office there, according to local media, said that both jars were marked with a white sticker with a red circle, as described by the suspected author in an email. Such a designation is mentioned in the AGES press release. Contaminated jars were also found in the city of Dunajská Streda in southern Slovakia.
How to identify the poisoned jars? All the jars had in common that the lids were damaged and that the characteristic "pop" sound was no longer heard when opened. Baby food, like many other foods, is filled hot into jars and sealed with a screw-on lid, creating a vacuum during cooling. A "pop" sound upon opening confirms that the jar has not been opened since filling. According to the Hipp company, this involves "external criminal manipulation" that must have occurred outside the factory premises.
The criminal police in Ingolstadt advise paying attention to the familiar sound when opening, smelling the contents of the jar, and informing the local police in case of any irregularities, as well as never giving suspected food to children. Similar recommendations have been given by the manufacturer.