Urgent recall of 8 million packs of top-selling laundry detergent sold at Walmart, Target, CVS and Family Dollar - amid cases of children eating dangerous capsules

Laundry detergent pods from major brands including Tide and Ace have been urgently recalled.

The US Consumer Product Safety Commission recalled 8.2 million defective packets sold at popular stores such as CVS, Family Dollar, Target and Walmart. 

The watchdog said the detergent pods are sold in flexible film bags which can split open near the zipper track, which mean children could gain access to the contents. 

The zipper is meant to mean that kids cannot gain access to the pods, which are toxic to eat and can also cause injury to the skin and eyes. 

The recall involves certain lot codes of 17 variations of Tide Pods, Gain Flings, Ace Pods, and Ariel Pods liquid laundry detergent packets.

It only applies to bags distributed in the US that were manufactured between September 2023 and February 2024. 

The watchdog said consumers should immediately secure the recalled bags out of sight and reach of children and contact manufacturer Procter & Gamble for a full refund and a free replacement child-resistant bag to store the product.

Consumers can check to see if their bag is part of the recall by checking the lot code on their packet.

Recalled lot codes will be listed here and are found on the bottom of the package. 

Consumers with recalled bags can submit a photo of the recalled product, showing the lot code to participate in the recall. 

The bags were also on sale at Big Lots, Home Depot, Sam's Club and online at Amazon.

The watchdog has received four reports of children in the US getting into liquid laundry packets - three of which reported that they ingested a detergent pod. 

The four reported incidents happened during the time period that the recalled lots were on sale, but it is not known if the laundry packets came from recalled bags. 

It comes after concerns were raised over a social media craze which led teenagers to eat laundry detergent pods. 

Doctors warned people not to participate in the potentially fatal 'Tide Pod Challenge' where teenagers filmed themselves chewing and gagging on colorful detergent pods and then daring others to participate.

They cautioned that the pods contain ethanol, polymers and hydrogen peroxide and are extremely toxic.