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News & Current Events Apr 19, 2026 at 3:26 PM

Rat poison found in HiPP baby food jar in Austria, police say

Posted by Warcraft_Fan


Rat poison found in HiPP baby food jar in Austria, police say
www.bbc.com
Rat poison found in HiPP baby food jar in Austria, police say
The brand warned on Saturday that consuming the purées may be potentially "life-threatening".

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whowhodillybar 3 days ago +766
> The jar had apparently been tampered with, police said. Authorities believe at least one more poisoned jar is in circulation and have issued guidance on how to recognise tampered jars. Well that is terrifying that at least one more rat poison baby food jar is still out there.
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bluedino44 3 days ago +130
They issued a recall of all the lots that could theoretically be impacted, hopefully everyone who purchased that baby food sees it and checks if theirs is part of the recall.
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GuybrushThreepwo0d 2 days ago +13
Realistically, when do people see recalls of these things?
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Precumyumyum 2 days ago +19
It’s been all over the News in the last few days and everyone is Talking about it. My 89 y/o grandma with Alzheimers knew about it.
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GuybrushThreepwo0d 2 days ago +4
I meant in general, not just this specific case. I've seen recalls posted in supermarkets on the shelves next to the products before but... Who even sees that?
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sagefairyy 2 days ago +4
Never because it has to be life threatening to reach the news, like in this case. In all other cases you‘re fine, otherwise it would make the local news.
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Ancient_Sun_2061 3 days ago +126
How did they conclude that at least one more tampered jar is still out there? Not 5, not 10, at least one more.
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howisthisacrime 3 days ago +141
Maybe video evidence that showed someone messing with two jars?
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Aware-Cap-3790 3 days ago +76
there was a blackmail attempt, basically trying to get the company to pay x money in order to tell them how many there are and how to identify them, completely psychotic
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Showdown5618 2 days ago +9
"At least one more" means there may be one more or up to 100+ more.
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in1gom0ntoya 2 days ago +10
thats ao much worse than just accidental contamination. someone intentionally tried maybe even successfully to poison babies...
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[deleted] 3 days ago +7
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Discount_Extra 3 days ago +1
https://youtu.be/23f2FyPh4pc
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Warcraft_Fan 3 days ago +441
>The jar had apparently been tampered with, police said. Authorities believe at least one more poisoned jar is in circulation and have issued guidance on how to recognise tampered jars. Not factory issue, someone is trying to kill babies.
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HojMcFoj 3 days ago +135
More specifically, someone is probably trying to kill their baby, and cast doubt on the cause. Wouldn't be the first time.
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Unique-Sock3366 3 days ago +48
That’s what happened with the Tylenol tampering in the 80s, right?
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Dentonthomas 3 days ago +35
They don't know, but there were multiple copycat cases where that was the motive.
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Radiant-Objective-35 2 days ago +20
I believe that is maybe of what happened with the Pixie sticks, and thats why we are supposed to check kids halloween candy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Clark_O%27Bryan
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SofieTerleska 3 days ago +16
The Tylenol poisoner has never been found (there's one person who was a suspect for a long time but they weren't connected to any of the victims).
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Unique-Sock3366 3 days ago +3
Interesting! Thanks for sharing this information!
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tomorrow509 2 days ago +3
That incident sparked the beginning of "tamperproof" packaging. In other words, if the packaging had been tampered with, it could be easily noted provided one knew what to look for.
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paspartuu 3 days ago +45
Nah. From the article: >Police in the eastern region of Burgenland said the poisoned jar of carrot and potato purée had been reported by a customer and that **their baby had fortunately not consumed the food**. >The *jar had apparently been tampered with*, police said. Authorities believe at least one more poisoned jar is in circulation and have issued guidance on how to recognise tampered jars. So it's a case of a parent having noticed the baby food jar seemed sus *before* feeding it to their kid, thankfully, and not a case of someone having made their child sick and then claiming tampering after the fact
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HojMcFoj 3 days ago +25
They are not the ones who poisoned the food. In similar cases, a person wanting to poison their child/spouse/etc. have tampered with a handful of packages of the product being poisoned and left the other ones in the supply chain in order to make the death look accidental. These people would be the victim of that.
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paspartuu 3 days ago +4
Aaah ok I think I see your reasoning now, thanks.  I thought at first you were trying to claim it's the parent who raised the alarm who's also tampered with the food
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HojMcFoj 2 days ago +2
That was my fault, I worded that poorly. I never defined the object "their baby." Should have said something like "Someone **else** wanted to hurt their **own** baby."
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OleMaple 3 days ago +10
Not a poisoning but that was the scenario for the Washington DC/Belt Way sniper incidents in the 2000s. Guy wanted to kill his wife so he killed/attempted to kill random people so her death would blend in with the rest.
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Chav 3 days ago +5
That was a motive the prosecutors gave without much evidence. Why would anyone keep shooting people for months to hide a murder anyway...
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Discount_Extra 3 days ago +2
Got a psycho thrill from the first kill, then kept going to chase that high.
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Routine-Spread-9259 2 days ago +1
Wasn't that the father son duo, or am I thinking of a different sniper incident. 
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Xsiah 3 days ago +26
Tell me you didn't read the article 
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yawara25 3 days ago +40
I didn't see anything in the article that would seem to make that an impossible scenario?
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Spiritual-Pear-1349 3 days ago +42
Its what usually happens tbh. Every case of poisoned or tampered candy on halloween, for example, was someone trying to kill their own kid and gave out tampered candy to limit doubt. Its not an original thought. Good chance someone wanted to kill a specific baby, but also wanted to make it look like there is a lunatic poisoning jars of baby food to deflect the blame
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DestructionIsBliss 3 days ago +26
I recall an incident in Germany when a young kid died after eating poisoned ice cream. The police initially blamed the aunt who bought it (even though there wasn't any evidence implicating her and no reasonable motive) but later it came out that a while before that someone sent a message to the manufacturer threatening to tamper with their products unless they paid out.
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eastgaston 3 days ago +6
> but later it came out that a while before that someone sent a message to the manufacturer threatening to tamper there's a non-zero chance this sender was also the aunt. If it's actual blackmailing, there would be more than one sick kid.
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SitInCorner_Yo2 3 days ago +12
Or someone try to blackmail the company by threatening “if you don’t pay X amount of money I’ll poison your product”, like Guriko Morinaga incident, they never caught the guy.
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Xsiah 3 days ago +1
The baby didn't consume the product and they reported it. Also products they don't own have been affected.
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axonxorz 3 days ago +20
The implication is that someone _else_ is trying to kill their kid. Tampering with a bunch of product at stores, leading to both theirs and _other_ children getting sick provides cover for the crime.
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DonPuffin 3 days ago +8
Here the tampering didn't happen at stores, since tampered jars have been already found in 3 different countries. 
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HojMcFoj 3 days ago +10
That's the entire point. Baby killer poisons a few jars of baby food, instead of just their own. Leaves the other tainted product in circulation. Then, when their baby is harmed, they point to the poisoned baby food out in the wild. The whole plan relies on someone innocent and uninvolved also getting the tainted product.
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paspartuu 3 days ago
So why would they then themselves raise the alarm with the authorities about the poisoned jars before their baby ever became harmed? It's nonsensical 
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HojMcFoj 3 days ago +3
They are not the ones who poisoned the food. In similar cases, a person wanting to poison their child/spouse/etc. have tampered with a handful of packages of the product being poisoned and left the other ones in the supply chain in order to make the death look accidental. These people would be the victim of that.
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paspartuu 3 days ago +1
Thanks for clarifying, I get your view now
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HojMcFoj 3 days ago +20
Literally nothing in the article discounts this known phenomenon as a plausible cause.
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LuxSassafras 3 days ago +2
I can't read the article because it is paywalled.
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Xsiah 3 days ago +1
Is it? It's fine for me
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LuxSassafras 3 days ago +2
I am in the US, I think I read maybe \~1 month ago that BBC were going to start paywalling non-UK readers, so that might be why. Paywalls make me sad. Think of all the people who could have benefited from learning something but can't cuz poor. :(
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Xsiah 3 days ago +2
I'm in Canada.
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LuxSassafras 2 days ago +2
Alright I googled it - they chose to only paywall Americans LOL. Apparently also it started June 2025 so my sense of time is fucked.
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heleninthealps 2 days ago +1
Insane... Just adopt it away. Or give it away! Anything else!!
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Techd-it 3 days ago -12
Darn you for having critical thinking skills
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Bleachrst85 3 days ago +3
Or they are trying to kill the brand, this is going to cause massive damage to them.
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Sea-Broccoli-8601 3 days ago +50
>Police in the eastern region of Burgenland said the poisoned jar of carrot and potato purée had been reported by a customer and that their baby had fortunately not consumed the food. Now that's one vigilant parent.
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Averiella 3 days ago +24
It sounds like the tamper seal was affected and there may have been a smell. There could’ve also been a white sticker with a red ring on it as the article noted. With all these together it makes sense a parent would be suspicious and report it. With less than all three it sounds like a diligent parent who noticed what may have been a factory issue and reported it so other babies wouldn’t become sick, and thankfully helped uncover the tampering. 
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scarneo 2 days ago -8
There are no tamper seals
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Darnell2070 2 days ago +23
The top pops when you first open it. That's the tamper seal. If it doesn't audibly pop that means it wasn't sealed when you bought it regardless of if it was tampered with or not and you should discard it.
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KimJongFunk 3 days ago +70
The baby did not eat the food and is fine, but authorities think more jars may have been tampered with. People are sick for doing this to children.
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Not_Cleaver 3 days ago +88
Reminds me of the infamous Tylenol tampering in the 80s.
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SitInCorner_Yo2 3 days ago +10
I was thinking Guriko Morinaga .
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ButteredPizza69420 3 days ago +4
And they never caught anyone for that did they
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[deleted] 3 days ago -4
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Not_Cleaver 3 days ago +10
No, cyanide - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Tylenol_murders
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[deleted] 3 days ago -11
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[deleted] 3 days ago +15
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[deleted] 3 days ago -4
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[deleted] 3 days ago +8
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m71nu 3 days ago +19
Always, with any food, check the package. Still terrible this is necessary. Who is so deranged as to put rat poison in baby food?
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Darnell2070 2 days ago -7
Any baby whose parents would feed them contents of a bottle that was already opened probably has more to worry about than rat poisoned. Even if it's not rat poison you wouldn't use the bottle if it was already opened. Imagine not hearing the pop and still feeding it to your baby, 😭.
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tomorrow509 2 days ago +5
Consumers need to be aware on how to easily determine if a product has been tampered with. In this instance, was it the lack of a "pop up" from a vacuum sealed lid, the lack of, or perforation of an inner protective seal, or what exactly? Anyone?
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Warcraft_Fan 2 days ago +3
News didn't mention that but I would think the parent noticed the product didn't have safety seal anhmore.
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tomorrow509 2 days ago +3
Poor reporting imho. Such protection needs to be highlighted to consumers at every opportunity.
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zghr 1 day ago +1
Protecting the international brand that pays for advertisement is top priority. News about the incident are crafted in partnership with company itself.
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_mully_ 2 days ago +3
Hopefully they find the other jar(s) and no one is hurt and/or worse.
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Darnell2070 2 days ago +2
Tamper proof lids make it super obvious when a bottle has been opened or not. Even if there wasn't rat poison inside something would have to be wrong with the parents to still try to feed their baby the contents of a bottle that obviously wasn't sealed.
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_mully_ 2 days ago +2
I hear ya, but even as a bachelor ive come across broken seals and figured it was just an accident or didnt think about it until after. But I can imagine what parents, with life moving at a million miles an hour, accidentally missing it, being too common.
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_mully_ 2 days ago +2
on a second note, i feel like i see damaged packaging/seals/etc way more than i used to (i would guess most of that is lack of quality control tho). You used to be able to trust the tamper seals/packaging a lot more 5-10-20 years ago imo. Nowadays its not *extremely* unusual for something to be damaged (especially from amazon/online/etc).
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Darnell2070 2 days ago +1
I do much of my purchases in store now so I just avoid damaged products. But I can understand your point if you're ordering online, returning online items is so inconvenient. Either way a tamper seal is a tamper seal and they either work or don't work regardless of circumstances. Either you hear a pop when you open baby food or you don't. It's really simple. Even in the instance of rat poison, if you don't hear a pop you don't feed it to your kids, so it wouldn't matter if it had rat poison anyway. But I guess you could be right. Some unfortunate parent could be an idiot or distracted or stressed out. Might not remember if they heard a pop or not because they have 3 screaming toddlers in their ear, 🤣.
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RazorLou 2 days ago +2
Well that’s not where that goes
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BritTheBret 2 days ago +2
They need to make a rat poison that is nourishing to babies. That way when woozy dying rats with bellies full of poison fall into the processors it can only good happen.
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Warcraft_Fan 2 days ago +1
Wasn't at the factory, someone added poison to the food at local store.
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BritTheBret 2 days ago +3
Back to the draweringbored.
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Excellent-Draft-5516 1 day ago +1
What agency ordered the testing? What agency tested it? What types of tests are conducted to determine contaminant? I wish the article covered these questions.
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counter567 13 hr ago +1
Hope the people responsible for it get the mental help they need. Or at least get locked the heck away.
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fallingdowndizzyvr 2 days ago +1
That's why I think that all food needs to come with a seal. And people should always check the seal. I don't know about in Austria, but here in the US the popup top tells the tale.
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TastelessPuppy2 3 days ago -2
"What do you think is in the Gerbers? Razor blades and other hideous kernals..."  -Aesop Rock
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queefburritowcheese 3 days ago +2
Dude's lyricism is second to none.
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TastelessPuppy2 2 days ago +2
I'm glad you get it 
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Extension-Toe-7027 3 days ago -12
Can anyone near Pfaffenhofen just head to their headquarters and start taking pictures of the panicking CEO's heading in.
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Warcraft_Fan 3 days ago +9
I doubt they are panicking since the food wasn't poisoned at the factory. It was tampered with at the store level.
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OutInABlazeOfGlory 3 days ago +2
Why would they care? They will take remote meetings if anything. Even in Europe mega corp CEOs are pale imitations of human beings.
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m71nu 3 days ago
Because, even if it is not their fault, it is bad for business. But maybe the CEO is a human being and also cares for the babies.
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alltheothersrtaken 3 days ago -3
Still gonna be terrible for buisness, how many people in Austria are going to keep buying this brand if there is even a teeny chance it has fecking rat poison in. I know if it was me I'd change brand.
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MotherOfDachshunds42 3 days ago +3
Austria, not Australia
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alltheothersrtaken 3 days ago +1
Whoops. thanks fixed.
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[deleted] 3 days ago -8
[deleted]
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Discount_Extra 3 days ago +6
People report defects to companies, and companies often give coupons for free product for it. I got some smushed up mispackaged coffee cakes, I sent in a photo of what went wrong, and they sent me coupons for four times the quantity.
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[deleted] 2 days ago
[deleted]
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Discount_Extra 2 days ago +4
Do you think the parents sent it to the lab themselves?
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Warcraft_Fan 3 days ago +5
Glass jars usually have clicky button on top, if it clicks, the jar was opened. Plastic containers would have plastic seal that needs to be pulled off.
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InBetweenSeen 2 days ago +1
They paid money for it, it's not surprising that they complained even if they just thought it was spoiled.
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