Tide Pod Challenge: Georgia teen gets sick after eating Tide Pods

ATLANTA — Don’t do the Tide Pod Challenge. Seriously.

That’s the message poison control officials are urging people after a bizarre trend spread like wildfire online.

The challenge involves people popping the small laundry detergent packs in their mouths and posting videos online of themselves chewing and gagging on the oozing product.

Dozens of people have been taken to the hospital after doing the challenge.

Dr. Gaylord Lopez, the director of Georgia’s Poison Control Center, confirmed that the center has handled one case involving a teen.

Lopez wants parents to be aware of the latest social media craze.

If someone swallows a small amount of the concentrated detergent in the pods, it could result in diarrhea and vomiting. It can even creep into the lungs and burn the respiratory tract, making it incredibly difficult to breathe according to, Dr. Alfred Aleguas Jr., managing director of the Florida Poison Information Center.

The D.C.-based not-for-profit National Capital Poison Center also reported that biting into a pod can cause “serious injury or even death.” Rubbing the product into the eyes can make the eyes burn, too.

And, Consumer Reports previously noted, the pods also pose lethal risks for adults with dementia.

YouTube and Facebook announced last week that “Tide Pod Challenge” videos would be removed from their sites.

In response to the trending challenge, Tide’s parent company Procter & Gamble issued a 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. They should not be played with, whatever the circumstance is, even if meant as a joke.”