Eating Tide Pods is a silly and dangerous internet challenge

February 24, 2018 at 9:42p.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

Kristofer Wilster, director of environmental health with the Trumbull County Combined Health District, said it hasn't received any reports of people getting sick after ingesting single-use detergent such as Tide Pods.

After people went on the internet and started challenging one another to eat them, however, the American Association of Poison Control Centers saw an increase of calls for help after people ingested them.

Some viral, silly internet challenges could be encouraged to support a good cause, but the implications of the recent internet challenge involving Tide detergent pods has led to deaths and calls for legislation.

“It’s one thing to do the Ice Bucket Challenge where you just dump water on your head and donate money. It’s another to put a poisonous substance in your mouth, something that can cause illness or death,” said Adam Earnheardt, chairman of Youngstown State University’s Department of Communication.

The Ice Bucket Challenge was created to raise money for the ALS Association in 2015. The Tide Pod Challenge seems to be gaining attention as a silly fad. The “joke” is that people should eat them because they are colorful like fruity candy, and teenagers especially took it as a challenge or a joke to garner attention.