Austrian police have arrested a 39-year-old man suspected of contaminating baby food jars with rat poison in what authorities believe was an attempted extortion scheme.
According to police, the suspect was apprehended in the Burgenland region, south of Vienna, following an investigation into tampered products linked to the German-based baby food manufacturer HiPP. He has been charged with deliberately causing public danger and attempted grievous bodily harm.
The arrest follows the discovery, two weeks earlier, of rat poison in several baby food jars sold in supermarkets. Authorities said five contaminated jars were recovered before they could be consumed across Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
One of the affected jars was purchased at a Spar store in Eisenstadt, where tests revealed it contained approximately 15 microgrammes of rat poison. Another jar from the same location is believed to have been tampered with but has not yet been found.
Police said the contamination was likely part of an effort to extort the manufacturer, which subsequently issued a product recall in Austria. German authorities were also involved in the investigation due to the company’s origin and the cross-border nature of the case.
Investigations are ongoing as authorities work to determine the full scope of the incident and whether additional products may have been affected.
