Donut Shop Creates Edible Version Of Tide Pods

A Hurts Donut branch in Witchita, Kansas, aimed to make the "Tide Pod Challenge" safe for consumption by transforming it into an edible donut.

The laundry brand's pods became a media fixture after a viral trend dubbed the "Tide Pod Challenge" resulted in hundreds of participants sharing videos — that have since been removed from YouTube and Facebook — of them eating Tides' detergent packets. Therefore, Hurts Donuts is selling a limited-edition "Forbidden Fruit" donut that's decorated with white, orange and blue icing that resembles Tides' colors.

"I thought this would clear up any confusion there might have been but now adults are throwing donuts in the washer," the Kansas branch wrote on Facebook.

The Tide Pods inspired donut is also available at other Hurts Donuts locations, including its branches in Missouri and Oklahoma. It will be made available for purchase while supplies last.

"We've never claimed to be a serious business. Hurts Donut Company was based off a joke when my grandfather would ask me if I wanted a 'hurts doughnut,'" Tim Clegg, CEO and Founder of the Hurts Donut Company, said to Tulsa World. "We see so much heavy stuff every day, that we wanted to put out our own sort of PSA saying eat this, not that."

Vinnie's Pizzeria in Brooklyn, New York, also took part in on the safe and edible Tide Pod-inspired food trend with its newly launched PIEd Pods. The shop's PIEd Pods pizza is filled with mozzarella cheese and pepperoni as its decked out with melted cheese dyed in a shade of blue that resembles the detergent's pods.

The Brooklyn pizza shop took to Instagram to share a picture of its PIEd Pods creation, but it was quickly removed from the photo-sharing app. Vinnie's Pizzeria responded to the removal Thursday, saying: "Maybe because they oppose us trying to offer edible and delicious alternatives and sway the youths away from dangerous challenges? Oh well, here it is again."

Tide urged for customers to stop eating its detergent pods, citing severe health risks as a reason for halting such consumption. The detergent brand also took to Twitter Jan. 12 to address the problem, saying: "What should Tide PODs be used for? DOING LAUNDRY. Nothing else. Eating a Tide POD is a BAD IDEA."

Eating detergent packets can bring about an assortment of health complications, both minor and severe.

"Swallowing it often causes mild stomach upset, if there are any symptoms at all, but poison center experts say the new highly concentrated single-load liquid laundry detergent packets seem to be different," the American Association of Poison Control Centers (AAPCC) said on its website. "Some children who have gotten the product in their mouths have had excessive vomiting, wheezing and gasping. Some get very sleepy. Some have had breathing problems serious enough to need a ventilator to help them breathe."

"There have also been reports of corneal abrasions (scratches to the eyes) when the detergent gets into a child’s eyes," AAPCC continued.

A representative for Tide did not immediately return International Business Times' request for comment.