BEUC news - 21.01.2016

On 1 January 2016 the European Union introduced more stringent rules for liquid laundry detergents, including capsules, in order to prevent childhood poisoning.

Liquid detergent capsules can be a risk for young children as they are very colourful and usually come with shiny packaging which may lead children to confuse them with sweets. In the past, cases of poisoning in children have been reported because they mistakenly swallowed the content of the capsule.

According to the new rules the packaging will have to be “opaque or obscure” to ensure that the colours are not - or less - visible. In addition to making packaging less attractive for children, requirements also focus on providing clearer and more visible warning statements such as “keep out of reach of children”.

BEUC welcomes this decision as we have been raising awareness of this topic in the past.

More information can be found here.