There's an old expression that when children use bad language, their parents will "wash their mouths out with soap".

Well now some kids, yes, and even some adults, are literally doing this on their own to dangerous effect.

A craze sweeping the country has people eating Tide Pods laundry packets.

The Tide Pods are laundry detergent encased in a water-soluble film.

I have to admit, they look like little scoops of ice cream.

Tide, owned by Procter & Gamble Co, is a classic American detergent brand that debuted in powder form in 1946. The pods were rolled out in 2012.

The "Tide Pod Challenge" is a dare in which mostly teenagers post You Tube videos of themselves eating the sudsy blobs, or at least pretending to. (YouTube pledged to take down the videos.)

On Tuesday, New York state Senator Brad Hoylman of Manhattan and Assembly member Aravella Simotas of Queens proposed legislation to restrict laundry pods.

In a letter to P&G CEO David S. Taylor, the politicians state that "it's time that you recognized the danger to those least able to protect themselves from a poisonous product packaged like candy".

The letter asks P&G to remove its products from stores or implement voluntary changes including child-resistant wrappers for liquid detergent packets; clear warning labels on packets; and uniform colors to make packets less visually appealing.

The bill would ban the sale of detergent pods (made by anyone, not only Tide) in New York state unless they are designed in an opaque, uniform color; not easily permeated by a child's bite; and individually enclosed in a child-resistant wrapper stating: "WARNING: HARMFUL IF PUT IN MOUTH OR SWALLOWED. EYE IRRITANT. KEEP OUT OF REACH OF CHILDREN."

To its credit, Tide has a childproof version of the pods, plenty of warnings on its website and has even enlisted New England Patriots' tight end Rob Gronkowski in a video warning.

"What the heck is going on people? Use Tide Pods for washing, not eating," Gronk says in the video.

The American Association of Poison Control Centers (AAPCC) in Alexandria, Virginia reported that in the first two weeks of 2018, US poison control centers handled 39 intentional exposure cases from the pods among 13- to 19-year-olds. That number increased to 86 in the first three weeks of 2018.

The AAPCC said that in 2012, US poison centers received more than 6,000 calls related to ingestion of pods by children 5 and under. The number rose above 10,000 in 2013 and neared 12,000 in 2014.

Reactions from the ingestions included coma, seizures, pulmonary edema, respiratory arrest, corneal abrasion and ocular burns.

You can get Tide Pods on Chinese e-commerce sites, but at a premium. On taobao.com, a package of 81 goes for 637 yuan, or more than $100.

As with any craze, there are some who will put their own spin on it.

Wake N Bake Donuts in North Carolina and Kansas-based Hurts Donut have both made pastries that look like laundry pods.

Wake N Bake said on its Facebook page that an employee came up with the idea to show "youth the difference between what to eat and what not to eat".

Owner Danny Tangredi told WECT-TV: "I definitely didn't think we would make a Tide Pod doughnut. But I also didn't think people would eat Tide Pods."

A New York City pizzeria even launched "Pied Pods" — rolls stuffed with cheese and pepperoni and topped with dyed cheese made to look like a detergent pod.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Contact the writer at williamhennelly@chinadailyusa.com