If you see a product package with peach printed on it and "mousse" written on it in the supermarket, what is your first reaction? Recently, an elderly man in Yunnan tasted a bottle of "White Peach Fragrance Toilet Mousse" as a drink, resulting in burns to his mouth and esophagus. After the incident was exposed, related topics became hot searches.
In response to this matter, Xu Dongrong, deputy director of the Emergency Medicine Department of the Third Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, said that after corrosive liquid enters the human esophagus, it will quickly cause chemical burns to the mucous membrane, leading to high edema, erosion and even shedding of the mucous membrane.
The reporter visited and found that some daily chemical products are highly "food-oriented" in appearance. On the shelves, there are not only lollipop-shaped lip sticks, yogurt cup-like scrubs, and even candy-shaped toilet gel. Why are businesses so keen to put "food clothes" on daily chemical products? Can "big words attract attention and small words exempt people" hold water?
In the toiletries and cleaning products section of supermarkets, imitating food appearance designs is not an isolated case. A lip balm called "Xiao Mi Fang" is made into a realistic lollipop shape, with the words "succulent grapes" printed on the front and a grape pattern, but no product categories such as "lip balm" are marked on the front. It wasn't until looking at the back of the package that the reporter saw a line of small text at the bottom: "Warning: This product is a cosmetic and is not edible."
Equally confusing is a "scrub" that has a can design similar to a "yoghurt cup". The eye-catching text on the front is "Pomegranate Milk Fragrance" and a cut pomegranate pattern. The three words "scrub" are marked on the back of the product in smaller font size. There are also soaps that closely resemble chocolate or pastries.
This "food packaging" has even spread to the field of potentially dangerous powerful cleaning agents. A toilet cleaning gel called "Boleqing" is directly made into a three-dimensional shape of pink bears and flowers, which visually resembles candy and jelly. The Chinese description on the back is marked "Inedible, strictly prohibited to eat by mistake." On the e-commerce platform, there are also toilet cleaning gels that look like fruits and pears, and toilet cleaning bubble liquids that look like rose juice or grape juice. For the elderly with reduced vision or illiterate, as well as children who lack the ability to distinguish, this kind of "fruit-shaped + corrosive liquid" combination product has certain hidden dangers of accidental eating and accidental contact if only a very small font size warning is marked on the back.
Zhu Wei, an associate professor at the China University of Political Science and Law, pointed out that the practice of merchants using small characters to mark "not edible" on the back of products is "big words attract attention, small words disclaimer." Not only does it not exempt people from liability, but it also indicates that there may be problems with the product design. The Product Quality Law clearly requires that warning signs must be eye-catching. If the font of the sign is so small, it means that the merchant has not fulfilled its obligation to inform and should bear responsibility.
Lu Yun, a lawyer from the China Consumers Association Lawyers Group, said that if the relevant warning text or reminder is not in a conspicuous manner, the operator has actually failed to fulfill the relevant obligations and will bring risks to consumers.
Faced with these extremely confusing products on the shelves, proper first aid is crucial in the event of accidental ingestion. Xu Dongrong reminded that after accidentally ingesting corrosive liquids such as detergents, it is strictly forbidden to pick the throat to induce vomiting, and do not drink large amounts of water to dilute the liquid, otherwise the damage will be further expanded. Seeking medical attention as soon as possible is the top priority. Be sure to bring the bottle of corrosives that you accidentally swallowed when you see the doctor, so that the doctor can arrange treatment more quickly.
It is understood that the mandatory national standard "Safety Technical Specifications for Laundry Products", which will be officially implemented on May 1 next year, specifically formulates detailed requirements for the labels on the outer packaging of cleaning products, and clearly states that safety warnings must be eye-catching to effectively prevent damage to consumers' health.
