Kids choose laundry pods over candy in experiment

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Brightly colored, speckled and shiny, laundry pods don't look like normal laundry detergent. We wanted to know if kids would be able to tell the difference between a dangerous chemical and candy.

ABC 57 visited a local candy shop and held the laundry pods in one hand and the candy in the other.

While one child choose the candy, others choose the laundry detergent pod. They thought it looked like a fruity snack.

But they are not fruit, or candy. These little pods are filled with toxic chemicals.  

Even one mom was confused at first.

"It has a very sweet smelling scent that comes out of them," says Colleen Scmidt, mother of Sophia and Madeline.  

Our test was eye-opening for parents - they now see why kids could be confused.

“I could see a kid thinking it’s a juice and trying to pop it open and put it into their mouth," says Suzanne Rajsdle, mother of Grace.

“I thought that my girls would eat these because they kind of look like those squishy toys they like to play with and with the water inside that lights up so it kinda looks like that," says Colleen Schmidt.

Indiana Poison Control say they have gotten over 200 reports since March of 2012 of laundry detergent poisoning. 

They say if your kids do get a hold of these pods and eat them to call 9-1-1 for immediate help. 

Then wash out their mouths with water, then have their child drink milk to rinse out the rest of the detergent.  

Then look for signs of nausea or drowsiness that comes from chemicals found in the detergent.