The European Commission has enacted new legislation that compels laundry capsule manufacturers to introduce protective measures to prevent consumption by children.
Last December, the European Commission introduced Regulation EU 1297/2014, which sought to clarify and amend the packaging formats used by said detergents.
This legislation was enacted on June 1.
The Commission recommends three measures to be introduced for this type of laundry packaging:
Attractiveness: While information campaigns about the dangers of these products “has shown some positive effects”, the Commission argues that more needs to be done to “lower the attractiveness of the products, by using “opaque outer packaging”.
Aversive Agent: The Commission also recommends the use of an aversive or ‘bittering’ agent, in the soluble packaging “to cause an immediate repulsive effect when in contact with the mouth and by rendering access to this type of product more difficult”.
Supplemental Information: It also notes that “supplemental information should be included and highlighted on the label of the outer packaging of liquid consumer laundry detergents in soluble packaging for single use”.
"There has been mounting concern across Europe,” says Gina Mercier, Associate Bitrex Business Manager at Macfarlan Smith, makers of Bitrex, an aversive agent that helps dissuade children from consuming said products.
“Consumers love laundry detergent capsules – they are effective, handy, environmentally friendly and a genuinely useful innovation for both consumers and retailers. But no product wants to be associated with parental anxiety or safety risk."
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