A new social media trend is causing health concerns: attention-starved teens are scarfing down laundry detergent pods.
Online “memes” feature photos depicting the laundry pods as a pizza topping or breakfast cereal. Videos appear to show people biting into the detergent pacs and spitting them out.
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Online users joke about how "tasty" the pods look... in some cases, even calling them the "forbidden fruit."
Medical experts say the consequences of ingesting these products can be dire. As CNN reports, the packets can cause vomiting, throat burns and eye injuries, among other issues.
In March 2017, College Humor posted a video about eating laundry pods. The end of the video shows a guy devouring a bowl of laundry pods before he is carted off into an ambulance saying, "I don't regret it."
A spokesperson for Tide says its laundry pacs are only meant to clean clothes. The company released the following statement:
“Our laundry pacs are a highly concentrated detergent meant to clean clothes, and they're used safely in millions of households every day. They should be only used to clean clothes and kept up, closed and away from children.”
"We have seen no indication of an increase of cases seeking medical treatment amongst infants and teenagers associated with the recent uptick in social media conversation or in consumer calls.”