P&G to add latches to make detergent packs safer

Laundry detergent makers introduced miniature packets in recent months such as this one photographed Thursday, May 24, 2012, in Houston. But doctors across the country say children are confusing the tiny, brightly colored packets with candy and swallowing them. Nearly 250 cases have been reported to poison control centers. (AP Photo/Pat Sullivan)

(AP) -- Procter & Gamble says it will change the design of packaging for its miniature laundry detergent product to deter children from eating the brightly colored packets that look like candy.

Procter & Gamble spokesman Paul Fox says the Cincinnati-based company plans to create a new double latch lid on tubs of Tide Pods "in the next couple of weeks."

Doctors say children sometimes swallow the pods thinking they are edible. Nearly 250 cases have been reported to poison control centers this year - a fraction of the thousands of poisoning calls received every year. No deaths have been reported.

Fox says to reduce the risk of poisoning, household cleaners and laundry detergents should be kept out of children's reach.

add to favorites email to friend print save as pdf

Related Stories

Doctors report rise in kids eating detergent packs

May 24, 2012

(AP) -- Miniature laundry detergent packets arrived on store shelves in recent months as an alternative to bulky bottles and messy spills. But doctors across the country say children are confusing the tiny, brightly colored ...

FDA sends Procter & Gamble a warning

Sep 18, 2007

The U. S. Food and Drug Administration has warned the Procter & Gamble Co. about claims it makes for its Vicks Early Defense Foaming Hand Sanitizer.

Recommended for you

New rule proposes insurance program integrity guidelines

10 hours ago

(HealthDay)—A new proposed rule, which provides program integrity guidelines for Affordable Insurance Exchanges, or Health Insurance Marketplaces (Marketplaces), has been released by the U.S. Department ...

EHR implementation first step toward quality improvement

15 hours ago

(HealthDay)—Implementation of electronic health records (EHRs) is a first step toward quality improvement and should be accompanied by use of new payment models to allow physicians to see a return on their ...

Why are some college students more likely to 'hook up'?

16 hours ago

Casual, no-strings sexual encounters are increasingly common on college campuses, but are some students more likely than others to "hook up"? A new study by researchers with The Miriam Hospital's Centers for Behavioral and ...

User comments

More news stories

Panic over MERS virus fades in Saudi

People in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province have again started greeting friends with the traditional kiss on the cheek, and face masks in public are becoming rarer, as panic subsides over the outbreak of a deadly respiratory ...

French firemen test hypnosis to help victims

"Look me straight in the eye. Your mind is emptying, your body is relaxing," says the fireman, using the calming words of hypnosis to help a trauma victim—a technique being pioneered by fire crews in the eastern French ...

Validating maps of the brain's resting state

Kick back and shut your eyes. Now stop thinking. You have just put your brain into what neuroscientists call its resting state. What the brain is doing when an individual is not focused on the outside world ...