Editor's Note
This editor’s note highlights the key facts and market implications behind “Baby Food Distributor HiPP: Rat Poison-Contamina”, with emphasis on sourcing, product fit, fabrication, logistics, or buyer impact.
The distributor of HiPP products in Serbia, Mercata VT, confirmed yesterday to New Economy that baby food jars on the domestic market are not part of the batch contaminated with rat poison, emphasizing that the products in question were not imported or distributed in Serbia, as reported by N1 and New Economy.
According to the declarations on the packaging, HiPP baby food jars in Serbia are mainly imported from Hungary and Germany, but distributor Mercata VT stated that the contaminated products are not part of their product range, nor were they imported, stored, or marketed in the territory of the Republic of Serbia.
They stressed that the incident was not the result of deviations in production quality and safety, but rather a deliberate act of product tampering.
“At this moment, there are no grounds for implementing product recall measures, nor for undertaking additional corrective or preventive activities in the market of the Republic of Serbia,” they stated.
They added that the Ministry of Health has been informed of the situation and that they are in communication with the manufacturer HiPP Austria GmbH "to respond promptly in case of any changes in the risk assessment."
Recall that on Monday, the manufacturer and German police announced that HiPP baby food jars poisoned with rat poison were found in Austria, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia, as part of an extortion attempt.
German police in Ingolstadt reported that five "tampered" HiPP jars were removed from sale in Austria, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia before they could be consumed, after the Austrian retail chain Spar launched an emergency product recall over the weekend, according to Reuters.
Police then stated (on April 20) that another contaminated jar might still be in circulation in Austria.
The Ingolstadt police are conducting an investigation against unknown persons for an alleged extortion attempt against baby food manufacturer HiPP, under the supervision of the local public prosecutor's office.
The statement indicates that all necessary measures were taken after an email linked to the suspects was discovered on April 16.
HiPP announced that it was the victim of an extortion attempt, stating that the person behind it sent a message to the company.
It added that the jars were tampered with without authorization, but without directly mentioning the use of poison.
The Austrian newspaper "Presse" reported that the email was sent on March 27, and the company was given a deadline until April 2 to pay two million euros, with the threat that two jars of baby food would be poisoned in three specific supermarkets in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Austria.
HiPP stated that the message was sent to a general address that is checked at regular intervals, and that the relevant authorities were informed as soon as the message was detected.
Rat poison in HiPP baby food in Central European countries; Slovenia withdrew as a precautionary measure.
Source: Read the original article | Published: April 23, 2026