3 Hospitalised In Taiwan After Mistakenly Eating Laundry Product Given As Election Freebie

Three people in Taiwan were rushed to a hospital after mistakenly eating colourful laundry detergent pods that were distributed as a campaign freebie in Taiwan's presidential race, News.com.au reported. The pods were wrapped in clear packaging with photos of Nationalist Party candidate Hou Yu-ih and his running mate.

The packages appeared to contain two smaller transparent packets containing red and green liquids and stated they could wash up to eight kilograms of clothes. It also read: "Vote for number three as president to support you.''

However, some people mistook the pods as candies and ate them. 

Those hospitalised included an 80-year-old man and an 86-year-old woman who were released after having their stomachs flushed.

Hung Jung-chang, head of Hou's Chuanghua campaign office apologised for the incident, saying the office would work on "disseminating information" that the 460,000 laundry pods given out by the campaign were not to be eaten.

"In the next wave of house-to-house visits, we will not distribute this kind of campaign material. We will also stress to our villagers through our grassroots organizations that they are laundry balls, not candies,'' Mr. Hung said in a video, as per Independent.  

He also told reporters that the campaign office staff would visit the three affected individuals who were hospitalised. Mr Hung furtherclaimed that distribution of these items had been completed, and they would not be produced again.

Su Ming-yao, an attending physician at New Taipei Municipal Tucheng Hospital's Department of Gastroenterology, said laundry pods contain a surfactant that causes heat to be released once entering the stomach. 

Nausea, vomiting, and diarrhoea are the most common effects of ingesting laundry detergent pods. Most laundry pods contain ethanol, polymers and hydrogen peroxide, which are extremely toxic. People should seek medical advice immediately if they ingest laundry pods, Mr Su said.

Notably, Mr. Hou is running against William Lai of the governing Democratic Progressive Party and Ko Wen-je of the Taiwan People's Party in Saturday's election.