More adults than children are mistaking laundry pods for candy

It turns out brightly colored laundry pods, which can be mistaken for candy, have fooled more adults than children — with lethal consequences.

A records request by Consumer Reports revealed eight deaths related to ingesting liquid laundry packets in the U.S. between 2012 and early 2017 have been reported to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Two of the cases were young children; six were adults with dementia.

Sales of laundry pods totaled $1.2 billion over a recent 12-month period, according to a Chicago-based marketing firm, and accounted for 17 percent of all laundry detergent sales.

Consumer Reports has advised that the packets should not be used in households where children under the age of 6 are present. The agency is now adding to that list any home where someone who is cognitively impaired is living.

This story was originally published June 16, 2017 at 6:09 PM with the headline "More adults than children are mistaking laundry pods for candy."