EISENSTADT — HiPP recalled all of its baby food jars sold at SPAR, EUROSPAR, INTERSPAR and Maximarkt stores in Austria on Saturday after a sample tested positive for rat poison. The contaminated jar was reported by a customer in the city of Eisenstadt.

The jar identified as contaminated was a 190-gram product made with carrots and potatoes, intended for 5-month-olds. Its lid was damaged and appeared to have been opened previously, and the contents smelled spoiled. No one consumed the baby food.

The recall covers all HiPP baby food jars sold through the affected Austrian supermarket chains as a precaution. Customers can obtain full refunds even without a receipt.

Authorities believe someone may have tampered with the jar, and HiPP cannot rule out that the poison was added through external contamination. Authorities in Germany, Slovakia and the Czech Republic are also investigating the incident.

Rat poison can inhibit blood clotting in the body, potentially causing bleeding gums, nose bleeds and bruising. Symptoms of rat poison exposure may be delayed, appearing two to five days after consumption. Anyone who believes they or their child may have consumed the affected product is advised to monitor for those symptoms over that window.

The affected stores span multiple retail formats under the SPAR group operating in Austria. EUROSPAR and INTERSPAR are larger-format stores within the same retail group, while Maximarkt is a hypermarket chain. The broad scope of the recall reflects that HiPP and Austrian authorities could not immediately determine which specific store locations stocked the affected batch.

HiPP is a German-based manufacturer of organic baby food products. The involvement of authorities in Germany, Slovakia and the Czech Republic indicates the investigation extends beyond Austria's borders, given that HiPP products are distributed across multiple European markets.