HiPP products in Malta are safe, importer reassures
Baby food manufacturer targeted by suspected blackmail poisoner in central Europe
Local importers of baby food producer HiPP have reassured local consumers that local batches of its products are completely unaffected by a suspected poisoning crime in central Europe.
A spokesperson for import firm Cherubino told Times of Malta that HiPP jars imported to Malta are not affected and contaminated products never reached the country.
“HiPP’s production, quality, and control processes remain fully intact, and the tampering occurred outside HiPP’s production lines and after the products had left its warehouses,” the spokesperson said.
The statement comes after HiPP issued a partial recall of products in Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia and alerted police after suspects mixed rat poison into some of its baby food jars.
The suspected perpetrators are believed to have marked the tampered jars with a white sticker that includes a red circle on the bottom.
HiPP said it became aware of the issue after a blackmailer emailed the company on a non-personalised shared mailbox.
The jars are believed to have been tampered with after leaving the company’s facilities.
A HiPP spokesperson said the company remains in close contact with authorities to identify the perpetrators behind what it described as “a criminal external manipulation outside our sphere of influence” in Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
HiPP encouraged consumers of all baby food, in all cases, to always ensure the packaging is intact and to pay particular attention to the characteristic popping sound jars make when opened, indicating an intact vacuum seal.