Consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble Co. has called back around 8.2 million defective bags of Tide, Gain, Ace and Ariel laundry detergent packets distributed in the United States citing risk of serious injury, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced. In addition, about 56,741 were sold in Canada.
According to the agency, the outer packaging meant to prevent access to the contents can split open near the zipper track. This could cause serious injury to children and other vulnerable people if the contents of the laundry detergent packets are ingested, as well as posing a risk of skin or eye injuries.
A large quantity of any surfactant-containing household cleaning products, if ingested, can cause death among individuals with underlying health issues.
So far, the company has not received any confirmed cases directly relating to the packaging defect. But, the firm has received four reports of children in the U.S. accessing the liquid laundry packets. In these, three reported ingestion during the time period that the recalled lots were sold, but it is not known if these laundry packets came from recalled bags.
The recall involves certain lot codes of Tide Pods, Gain Flings, Ace Pods, and Ariel Pods liquid laundry detergent packets packaged in flexible film bags that were manufactured between September 2023 and February 2024 and sold only in the U.S. The recalled products range from bags with 12 to 39 laundry detergent packets.
They include Gain Flings Original, Moonlight Breeze Scent, Blissful Breeze Scent, Spring Daydream Scent, as well as Gain Flings Plus Ultra Oxi and Gain Flings Plus Odor Defense.
Further, under Tide brand, the recalled products are Tide Simply Pods Plus Oxi Boost; Tide Pods Clean Breeze Scent; Free & Gentle; Oxi; Ultra Oxi; Original;
Spring Meadow Scent; and Light.
Ace Pods Clean Breeze, Spring Meadow, as well as Ariel Pods Alpine Breeze are also part of the recall.
The products were manufactured domestically by the Cincinnati, Ohio-based P&G, and sold at Big Lots, CVS, Family Dollar, Home Depot, Sam\'s Club, Target, Walmart, and other major stores nationwide and online at Amazon.com and other websites. They were sold from September 2023 through present for between $5 for one 12 ct. bag and $30 for four 39 ct. bags in a box.
Consumers are urged to immediately secure the recalled bags out of sight and reach of children. They can contact P&G for a full refund and a free replacement child-resistant bag to store the product, as well as a cabinet lock for securing laundry materials.
In September last year, P&G had recalled about 8,600 units of Zevo Fly, Gnat and Fruit Fly insect spray citing injury and laceration risks.