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Rat poison in "HiPP" baby food, what is known about the case and how to recognize the contaminated jar?!
2026-04-22 08:40:55 / EKONOMI&SOCIALE
So far, Hipp baby food has been found contaminated with rat poison in three countries. It's about blackmail. This is not the first such case. What is known so far and what are the experiences?
“Hipp is a victim of blackmail” – this is how the press release of one of the largest German manufacturers of baby food begins. Over the weekend, jars of food contaminated with rat poison appeared in Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Austria’s state food safety agency AGES has issued a warning, while the SPAR supermarket chain has initiated a recall of the product. The police are intensively searching for the perpetrator.
What is known about the current case?
The criminal police in Ingolstadt announced on Monday, after DW investigated, that an investigation is underway against an unknown person on "suspected attempted blackmail." This police department is responsible because Hipp's headquarters are located in the southeastern German town of Pfaffenhofen an der Ilm. The police report that five jars have been seized in three locations.
The first jar turned up near Eisenstadt in Gradisce, Austria's easternmost federal province. Initial laboratory tests showed that the 190-gram jar of carrots and potatoes had been poisoned with rat poison. The search for the second suspected poisoned jar is still ongoing. Two other contaminated jars were discovered in a supermarket in the Czech city of Brno.
The state prosecutor's office there, according to local media, said that both jars were marked with a white sticker with a red circle, as described by the alleged perpetrator in an email. Such a designation is stated in the AGES press release. Contaminated jars were also found in the town of Dunajská Streda in southern Slovakia.
How to spot the poisoned jars?
All the jars had one thing in common: the lids were damaged and the characteristic “plop” sound was no longer heard when they were opened. Baby food, like many other foods, is filled hot into jars and sealed with a screw cap, thus creating pressure during cooling. A “plop” sound when opening confirms that the jar has not been opened since filling. According to the Hipp company, this is “external criminal manipulation” that must have occurred outside the factory premises.
The criminal police in Ingolstadt advise to pay attention to the familiar sound when opening, to smell the contents of the jar and to inform the local police in case of any irregularities, and to never give suspicious food to children. Similar recommendations have been given by the manufacturer.
Previous cases
In one of the most famous cases, the perpetrator was a police officer from the British criminal police Scotland Yard: Rodney Whitchelo bought baby food in 1988 and 1989, contaminated it with chemicals or razor blades, and then returned the jars to store shelves. He sought four million pounds from the manufacturer, and in 1990 was sentenced to 17 years in prison. This and other cases in the 1980s eventually led to the introduction of “plop” fasteners that are more secure against tampering attempts.
In 2017, several jars of baby food contaminated with antifreeze appeared in Friedrichshafen in southwestern Germany – always in a potentially lethal dose. The perpetrator then tried to blackmail a supermarket chain for around twelve million euros. After several court proceedings, he is currently serving a prison sentence of ten years and six months.
In the UK in 2018, a criminal tried to extort £1.4 million in bitcoin. Before that, he contaminated several jars with metal parts and threatened to contaminate others, including with salmonella. Videos from the supermarket later led to the perpetrators. In the fall of 2020, he was sentenced to 14 years in prison, three of which came from another criminal offense.
A man was arrested in Poland last summer on suspicion of blackmailing people with threats of poisoning. There has been no verdict in the case yet, and the contaminated goods have not been discovered.
High profile of poisonings
Most people perceive endangering vulnerable babies as particularly repugnant – and warranting maximum attention. Added to this is the fact that baby food is sold in countless stores, which offers criminals many potential points of access.
In general, baby food is still subject to relatively strict and frequent checks, in addition to the already high safety standards, in order to minimize risks. Manufacturers restrict access to their factories and, in addition to the water-tight packaging mentioned above, use serial numbers so that individual products can be recalled. Some retailers are further increasing security by installing video cameras – preventing criminals from, as in 2018 in the UK, returning contaminated jars to the shelves unnoticed./DW
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