Rat poison found in baby food in Austria - but how did it get there?
The affected products were sold through SPAR stores in Austria, as well as in parts of Slovakia and the Czech Republic, and officials say the contamination is being treated as a suspected case of tampering rather than a manufacturing fault.
Published on 20/04/2026 - 13:36 GMT+2
Baby food jars from organic brand HiPP have been pulled from shelves in Austria, Slovakia and the Czech Republic after multiple samples tested positive for rodenticide, a substance that prevents blood from clotting and can cause serious internal bleeding.
Austrian authorities confirmed the contamination on Sunday (19 April), with the first positive test recorded a day earlier.
The affected products are 190-gram jars of carrot and potato baby food designed for infants aged five months and above, sold through SPAR supermarket chains in Austria.
“This recall is not due to any product or quality defect on our part. The jars left our HiPP facility in perfect condition,” HiPP said in a statement. “The recall is related to a criminal act currently under investigation by the authorities.”
Burgenland Police have urged parents and caregivers to inspect any recently purchased jars carefully.
Warning signs that a jar may have been tampered with include a white sticker bearing a red circle on the base of the jar, a damaged or already-opened lid, an unusual or spoiled smell. There also might not be a popping noise when the jar is first opened.
The alert was triggered after a customer reported a jar that appeared to have been interfered with. No consumption of the affected product has been reported.
What are the health risks?
The poison detected is likely to contain bromadiolone, an anticoagulant commonly used in rodenticides (rat pesticides), according to the Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety (AGES).
The substance works by disrupting the blood's ability to clot, and even small quantities can pose a serious risk to infants.
Symptoms may not appear immediately. The agency warns that signs of poisoning can emerge anywhere between two and five days after ingestion, and may include bleeding gums, nosebleeds, unexplained bruising, and blood in the stool.
AGES said the poisoning can be effectively treated with the administration of vitamin K.
Which products are affected and what should you do?
HiPP has issued a precautionary recall of all its baby food jars sold across SPAR, EUROSPAR, INTERSPAR and Maximarkt outlets in Austria.
Customers are entitled to a full refund and do not need to produce a receipt.
In Slovakia and the Czech Republic, vendors have removed all HiPP baby food jars from sale as a precaution, though no additional positive tests have been publicly confirmed in those countries.
Authorities have not yet identified a suspect, and the investigation is ongoing.
Growing concern around baby formula
The incident follows just a few months after three major baby formula brands issued large-scale recalls over contamination concerns. In January and February, Nestlé and Danone recalled their infant formula products across more than 60 countries, after reports of babies becoming ill.
The United Kingdom’s Health Security Agency confirmed 36 reports of children with symptoms consistent with cereulide poisoning after consuming contaminated baby formula.
France is also investigating the death of two babies who consumed formula from some of the recalled batches in the country. No confirmed link has yet been established between the formula and the cause of death.
A second cereulide case was confirmed in Flanders, Belgium, after a baby fell ill in January 2026 from contaminated Nestlé formula, a Flemish Department of Care spokesperson told Euronews Health.
