It's a dangerous new social media trend, and it's scaring a local Bakersfield Moms' group. It's called the Tide Pod Challenge. Teens are putting a laundry detergent pods in their mouth and eating it.
Bakersfield Moms Facebook group founder, Gina Colon, said, “It’s potentially could be a death sentence if they eat it.”
Colon also created the Facebook Pages Moms Helping Moms. Bakersfield Moms has over 20,000 members and Moms Helping Moms has over 10,000.
Now Colon is warning other parents in Bakersfield to step in and prevent their teens from putting a laundry detergent pod into their mouth and post the video online.
“It is out there that they’re doing this challenge. And this is what it looks like and to be aware. And it could potentially kill your child if they’re not careful," said Colon.
The trend has gotten so big that Tide has released a video via Twitter featuring New England Patriot tight end, Rob Gronkowski, telling people to not eat their laundry pods.
“What the heck is going on people? Use Tide Pods for washing, not eating,” said Gronkowski
Tide Pods have been controversial over the last few years with many toddlers mistaking them for candy and ingesting them.
For Colon, she says the best way to prevent older kids from doing it is to talk to them about the dangers. She’s also trying to share tips to other Bakersfield moms about how keep their families safe.
“Just keep them somewhere where they don’t even know where they are, you know, just to avoid any kind of contacts with them. Lock them away if you have to, whatever you have to do to keep the family safe,” said Colon."
