North Haven police are reminding parents of the danger involved in the popular online "Tide Pod Challenge."
"The Tide Pod Challenge is becoming a popular, but dangerous game for kids. Please talk to your children about how hazardous this could be for them. They do look delicious, but the outcome is not as cool as posting a video online," the department tweeted on Tuesday.
Over the last few months, a trend is popping up online of videos showing young people putting laundry detergent pods in their mouths, Today reports.
The videos posted on Instagram, Facebook and other social media sites purportedly show teenagers or even younger children "prepping" the detergent pod by shaking, stirring or cooking the packets, Today wrote.
According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), 10 people have actually died from eating them.
"Please don't eat laundry pods. They're poisonous," CPSC wrote on Facebook.
The picture posted by the CPSC reads, "A meme should not become a family tragedy. Don't eat poison."
Last year, poison control centers received reports of more than 10,500 calls of children 5 years old or younger who were inappropriately exposed to the laundry pods, Today reported.
Proctor and Gamble, the company that owns Tide, launched an online video campaign with New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski to warn teenagers specifically about the danger.
