Austria: Police arrest suspect over poisoned HiPP baby food
DW.com • • world
Key Points:
- Austrian police detained a 39-year-old man in Burgenland in connection with an attempted blackmail involving rat poison found in jars of HiPP baby food, a German brand.
- Authorities discovered five contaminated jars in Austria, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia, prompting a product recall in Austria; German police are involved due to the jars' German origin.
- Investigators found 15 micrograms of rat poison in a jar purchased in Eisenstadt, Austria, and a search is ongoing for a second potentially poisoned jar; the exact poison type remains undisclosed.
- The blackmailer reportedly demanded €2 million from HiPP via email in March, but the company only noticed the demand after the deadline had passed, as the message was sent to a rarely checked group address.
- HiPP is a family-run company with its main production in Bavaria, Germany, and its parent company based in Switzerland; the German product range was reportedly unaffected by the contamination.
