Rise in Kids Eating Laundry Detergent "Pods" That Look Like Candy

[didymus]

Yahoo:

Rise in Kids Eating Laundry Detergent “Pods” That Look Like Candy

Sweet-smelling and colorful, but toxic, single-use laundry detergent packs or “pods” are causing a rising rate of poisoning in kids who confuse them for candy. In the past 72 hours alone, nine childhood poisonings of toddlers (typical age 23 months) have been reported to the California Poison Control System (CPCS).

Richard Geller, MD, MPH—Medical Director, California Poison Control System, Children’s Hospital, Madera—reports that accidental poisonings linked to detergent pods are becoming increasingly frequent, with 82 cases in California through the end of May. Nationally, at least 250 cases have been reported to poison control centers this year, most of them since March when the products began to hit grocery store shelves.

All of the latest childhood poisonings required emergency evaluation and treatment, with six of them linked to Tide Pods, two to Purex Ultra Packs, and one to All Mighty Paks. So far, no deaths have been reported, but nationally, a number of kids have required hospitalization—sometimes on ventilators—for several days after eating detergent pods.

I’ve actually been waiting for this story. I know two people whose kids made a grab fro these things, yelling “Candy!”
The manufacturers couldn’t see this coming?

 

[Mary_Gail_36]

I read about this just this morning.

Although they are pretty, they don’t seem candy like to me.

I use them, keep them in the laundry room, inaccessible to the smaller people in my house.

Parents need to be smart about these things, put dangerous things where kids won’t be able to get them.

 

[austenbosten]

Was I the only kid who wasn’t a total and absolute moron? I would know that Tide didn’t make candies, cause that’s the bad stuff mommy puts in the washer to make clothes clean. When the dish washing detergents came out with that little red ball, I didn’t bother to eat it, even though it looked like an atomic fireball. Either parents are failing miserably or the gene pool is seriously scrapping the bottom of the barrel.

 

[Miguelita]

Why aren’t these things being kept on a shelf out of reach of small children is what I want to know.

 

[BlueEyedLady]

…my best friend just temporarily moved in with my fiance and I. I put all of my detergent pods in a Ziploc bag and left them on the counter. He looked at them and asked if he could have one. I looked confused and said “The dishwasher is already going.”. He thought they were candy…and he’s 29…

 

[Robertanthony]

…my best friend just temporarily moved in with my fiance and I. I put all of my detergent pods in a Ziploc bag and left them on the counter. He looked at them and asked if he could have one. I looked confused and said “The dishwasher is already going.”. He thought they were candy…and he’s 29…

They’re delicacies. But brace yourself for some brutal heartburn afterwards. You’ve got to be kidding. I consider myself to be bathing in a gene pool not quite scraping the bottom of the barrel (I like that one) but very close and there is no way in heck I would have thought these were candies.

 

[BlueEyedLady]

They’re delicacies. But brace yourself for some brutal heartburn afterwards. You’ve got to be kidding. I consider myself to be bathing in a gene pool not quite scrapping the bottom of the barrel (I like that one) but very close and there is no way in heck I would have thought these were candies.

Not kidding. They were white on one side, blue on the other, and had a red liquid ball in the middle. I’m sure if he had pulled one out of the bag and realized that it was wrapped in thin plastic he would have realized his error.

He has a master’s degree in computer science, so I’m going to chalk this up to one of the many boneheaded mistakes that we all make from time to time without thinking. He certainly isn’t an idiot.

 

[april32010]

Not kidding. They were white on one side, blue on the other, and had a red liquid ball in the middle. I’m sure if he had pulled one out of the bag and realized that it was wrapped in thin plastic he would have realized his error

that description of the product shows me how a young kid could mistake it for candy

 

[scipio337]

Perhaps I’m dating myself here, but precisely WHAT known candy do these resemble?

I can’t understand the “bright colors = candy!” connection. That being said, children have accidentally been ingesting things they shouldn’t for quite some time. (I remember the “Mr. Yuk” stickers of my childhood)

Hopefully exposure will make parents more aware/careful.

 

[aicirt]

Was I the only kid who wasn’t a total and absolute moron? I would know that Tide didn’t make candies, cause that’s the bad stuff mommy puts in the washer to make clothes clean. When the dish washing detergents came out with that little red ball, I didn’t bother to eat it, even though it looked like an atomic fireball. Either parents are failing miserably or the gene pool is seriously scrapping the bottom of the barrel.

:tiphat: My day it was mothballs. Look like peppermint candy and the smell should have been a deterrent. Nevertheless, Granny’s words were, “Eat that and it will kill you. Don’t touch.”

Put the stuff out of the kid’s reach.

 

[CatholicBoy1957]

Is mom in another room shoving a needle up her arm or what?

 

[ringil]

I wouldn’t hurt the manufacturer to alter the appearance of these things.

A similar thing happened YEARS ago with a pink dish washing fluid that non-english speaking parents were mistaking for pepto-bismol.

In a similar vein, the US needs to require the addition of an ingredient to anti-freeze toget rid of the “sweet” taste. Most countries do this but, OF COURSE, the US resists it as it would cost pennies a bottle.

Instead of blaming people mhy not simply make tiny changes to make products more safe?

Our FREEDOM to have sweet anti-freeze you know.

 

[BlueEyedLady]

that description of the product shows me how a young kid could mistake it for candy

Exactly! My 29 year old friend would have felt the plastic and smelled the soap and put it back laughing at himself before ever taking a bite. However, a 3 year old wouldn’t. Granted if I had a 3 year old those wouldn’t have been on my counter in a Ziploc bag to start with.

 

[TheRealJuliane]

Not kidding. They were white on one side, blue on the other, and had a red liquid ball in the middle. I’m sure if he had pulled one out of the bag and realized that it was wrapped in thin plastic he would have realized his error.
**
He has a master’s degree in computer science**, so I’m going to chalk this up to one of the many boneheaded mistakes that we all make from time to time without thinking. He certainly isn’t an idiot.

That explains it.