A suspect has been arrested on suspicion of contaminating baby food with rat poison, distributed in Austria, Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Specifically, Austrian police have arrested a man on suspicion of attempted extortion against the German company infant food company HIPP, after he had contaminated jars containing baby food distributed in Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia with rat poison.
According to a statement from the Eisenstadt prosecutor’s office, the suspect is 39 years old and was arrested in Austria, but no further details about his identity or motives have been released. Police meanwhile said that a total of five jars of baby food containing rat poison were found in Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
In a 190-gram jar of carrot and potato seized in Austria, investigators found a total of 15 micrograms of rat poison. An investigation is underway into a second jar of possible rat poison, and HIPP stressed that it was not a problem at its factory but “external criminal interference” and assured that no products available on the German market had been affected.
As early as last week, HIPP said it had received an email from the extortionist at a general company email address, which is not checked daily. It immediately alerted the police and set up an internal crisis management team. Neither the company nor Austrian authorities have disclosed what the extortionist asked for.
