Since Tide Pods hit the market in 2012, laundry detergent pods have quickly become popular. Unfortunately, they also resulted in reports of kids biting into these shiny, candy-colored packets of poison. New data shows that it’s not just children who are at risk of this potentially lethal confusion; several seniors with dementia have died after consuming detergent pods. [More]
detergent pods
Tide’s Answer To Slumping Sales? Use More Detergent Pods!
By 6.8.16
While shiny, candy-colored detergent pods have poisoned many thousands of kids who mistake them for toys or treats, they’ve been success for detergent brand Tide and its parent company Procter & Gamble. So is it a coincidence that Tide’s new recommendation that customers use as many as three pods per load comes amid an overall sales slump in the detergent category? [More]
Costco Shrink Rays Bins Of Detergent Pods Ever So Slightly
By 10.5.15
The Grocery Shrink Ray stealthily takes away small portions of all kinds of consumer products: food, beverages, personal care items, and cleaning supplies. Even the super-sized containers at Costco aren’t immune: 130 loads of laundry since his last purchase, Ed noticed that his newest container has fewer detergent pods in it than the last one. Update: Actually, Costco increased the quantity of pods! [More]
Detergent Pod Poisonings Increase, Even After Changes To Packaging
By 5.15.15
In spite of efforts by manufacturers to make their laundry detergent pods look less like candy in a jar, the number of poisoning incidents related to these products continues to grow. [More]
Legislation Aims To Make It Harder For Kids To Snack On Yummy-Looking Detergent Pods
By 2.26.15
Federal safety agencies and poison control centers have continuously expressed concern that the ever-popular, and convenient detergent pods are extremely dangerous to children, with more than 17,000 kids being poisoned by ingesting the detergent since they came on the scene three years ago. Today, the House and Senate took steps to ensure the single-serve detergent packs no long threaten childrens’ safety by introducing legislation that would enact stricter packaging standards for liquid detergent. [More]
Study: Over 17,000 Kids Have Been Hurt By Laundry Detergent Pods
By 11.10.14
Dissolving detergent pods, introduced in 2012, are convenient and popular. They’re also extremely dangerous to the young children to whom they look like delicious squishy treats. And a new study finds it’s even more children than previously thought, with an average of one child being hurt by a laundry pod every hour. [More]
Detergent Pod User? We Want To Hear From You
By 5.16.14
Do you use detergent pods, the single-serve laundry sensation that small children can’t stop cramming in their mouths? If so, our freshly-laundered colleagues down the hall at Consumer Reports would like some feedback from you on the products, especially if you have small children living with you. Click here to take their brief questionnaire on the subject. [More]
Detergent Pods Shouldn’t Be This Hard To Figure Out
By 4.18.14
Lauren is upset with Procter & Gamble, the makers of Tide. While detergent pods are a boon to been laundromat customers and people who dislike measuring things. Some people have had trouble with the pods, though. Detergent isn’t supposed to stain your laundry. It’s supposed to do the exact opposite of that. Yet customers say that it’s discrepancies in the instructions that cause problems for pod people. [More]
Procter & Gamble Was Testing Opaque Detergent Pod Jars Before U.S. Launch
By 11.20.13
Since detergent pods hit the market back in 2012, authorities (and Consumerist) have been warning consumers to keep the products far, far away from children who might mistake them for candy. Procter & Gamble reports that incidents of young children poisoned by Tide’s detergent pods are way down. Public awareness probably helped, but putting them in jars that make them look less like candy has helped a lot more. [More]
Grandmother Of Poisoned Boy Asks Procter & Gamble To Stop Making Tide Pods Look Like Delicious Candy
By 9.27.13
Since their introduction in 2012, Tide detergent pods have been a lightning rod for controversy. Initially packaged in clear plastic, candy jar-like container, the glossy, orange, blue and white pods tempted an alarming number of children into taste-testing them. Procter & Gamble, the makers of Tide, have subsequently made the packaging opaque and more secure, but one woman who says her grandson almost died after biting into a Tide pod says more can be done to make the product less yummy-looking to children. [More]
Scotland Distributes Free Cupboard Latches To Keep Kids Away From Detergent Pods
By 9.12.13
Here in the United States, land of free enterprise, we’re trying to solve the problem of children snarfing detergent pods by selling them in opaque containers and maybe making them look less like candy. In Scotland, authorities are taking a different tactic: distributing free cupboard latches to new parents and educating them about the dangers of delicious-looking detergent pods. [More]
Costco Finally Stops Selling Yummy-Looking Detergent Pods In Clear Candy Jars
By 8.27.13
Several weeks ago, we told you about Costco’s questionable choice of putting its poisonous laundry detergent pods in a clear plastic container that looks an awful lot like the plastic jars it uses for things like animal crackers, nuts, and candies, especially in light of the numerous instances of young children licking, eating, or playing with these toxic toys. Now it looks like the wholesaler has come to its senses. [More]
7-Month Old Boy Dies After Eating A Laundry Detergent Pod
By 8.15.13
In a tragic reminder of how very important it is to keep brightly colored, squishy detergent pods that resemble candy away from children, a 7-month-old boy died after eating one in Florida last week. In this case, it didn’t matter what kind of container the pods were in (like these clear, easy-open Costco bins), as the child reportedly took only a moment to snag one of the packets from the laundry basket his mother had place them in. [More]
Costco’s Animal Crackers Container Is More Secure Than The Store’s Poisonous Detergent Pods
By 8.6.13
From the moment that Tide and others unleashed brightly colored, shiny, borderline adorable detergent pods on consumers, little kids have been licking, eating, and playing with them, which is a bad thing. And while some manufacturers have already begun shifting away from easy-open clear packaging, Costco puts its Kirkland Signature pods in a container that looks remarkably like the packaging it uses for food products and is easier to open. [More]
Wisk And Costco Knock Tide From Top Detergent Greatness Spot
By 6.20.13
Tide might be the detergent of choice for criminals, but our stain-fighting cousins over at Consumer Reports tell us that in terms of actual quality, there’s a new champion in town. Products from Wisk and Kirkland (Costco’s house brand) took the top spots in their most recent detergent rankings. [More]
CDC: Kids Sure Do Love Chewing On, Getting Sick From Detergent Pods
By 10.18.12
It’s no secret that little kids like bright, shiny colorful things, and that curiosity compels them to place these objects in their mouths. But since most children under the age of five are not yet versed in the possible harms of household chemicals, lots of them are popping bright, shiny colorful detergent pods into their waiting maws. [More]
Kids Worldwide Still Snarfing Detergent Pods Like Candy
By 9.6.12 — Updated: 4.3.13
In hindsight, maybe brightly-colored, individually wrapped dollops of laundry detergent weren’t such a great idea from a safety point of view. Sure, they’re popular: pre-measured soap is handy, and they keep people who use laundromats or apartment building machines from hauling giant bottles around. The disadvantage is that even with warnings to keep the products on a high shelf and promises to change the packaging to make it more childproof, kids everywhere seem to find the pods irresistible. [More]
