Tide Pod Challenge Gives Rise To Edible Lookalikes

SPRINGFIELD, MO — By now, we all know, or should know, not to gorge ourselves on Tide Pods or any other laundry detergent packet. It could kill you, or at the least make you so sick you’ll wish you hadn’t accepted the silly Tide Pod challenge that is sweeping the internet. In response, Springfield, Missouri-based Hurts Donut Co. and some eateries and bars are cashing in on the craze with edible versions of the laundry capsules.

Though billed as harmless fun, at least 10 people have died from ingesting the laundry packets, which can resemble candy to young children and adults with dementia.The concentrated laundry packets contain a toxic cocktail of ethanol, hydrogen and polymers.

Some retail stores are locking up laundry detergent pods like expensive liquors in response to the fad, and social media companies like YouTube are scrubbing their sites of videos showing kids and some adults gnoshing on laundry packets.

Hurts Donut frosted doughnuts with the trademark orange and blue colors of the Tide laundry packets. The company poked a little fun at the inane Tide Pod challenge — in which people eat or pretend to eat the laundry packets — on its Facebook page, saying that “adults are throwing donuts in the washer.”

The doughnuts can be found at the chain’s locations in nine states — Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Texas, Arizona, Oklahoma and Arkansas. Patch has reached out to Hurts Donut. We’ll update this post if we hear back.

Trista Patterson, one of the owners of Hurts Donut Co., told KSNT-TV the Tide Pod pastries were created as “a funny alternative to a more serious topic.”

“We see so much heavy stuff everyday that we’re just putting a little lighter approach on a serious subject,” Patterson said.

Not everyone thinks the company’s take on the Tide Pod challenge is hilarious because of the serious harm that can come from eating detergent packets, according to the comment stream on the Facebook post introducing them, but Patterson said Hurts Donut intended it as “our own PSA saying eat this, not that.”

But if doughnuts aren’t your thing, you can find other places with Tide Pod-themed foods.

Vinnie’s Pizzeria in Brooklyn, New York, created “Pied Pods” to satisfy your Tide Pod craving, Eater.com reported. The piemakers dyed cheese to resemble the colors used in Tide’s laundry packets and used it to top its pepperoni and mozzarella-stuffed “pods.”

Also in Brooklyn, Duff’s Alcohol Abuse Center created a shot that features the colors of the Tide Pods.

Here's the Hurts Donut Facebook post.

See Also: Tide Pod Challenge: 5 Things About Dangerous Fad

(AP Photo/Pat Sullivan)