Attention YouTubers: Australia Has Tide Pods You Can Actually Eat

Tide Pods have been seducing many into eating laundry detergent for years. And now, people with a predilection for Pods can satisfy their cravings without risking a trip to the emergency room.

The ‘Tide Pod Challenge’ became one of the internet’s craziest viral sensations earlier this year, encouraging YouTubers to chow down on the colourful capsules of washing liquid.

The meme spiralled so mindlessly out of control that manufacturers Procter & Gamble were forced to shift their candy-looking laundry pods into opaque packaging, and the media chose to issue health warnings against consuming detergent — a message that seems about as necessary as ‘Don’t go swimming in crocodile-infested waters’ or ‘Don’t stick your tongue inside an electric toaster’.

Following the Tide Pod Challenge, some bemused social media users started circulating pictures of chocolate Pod products, spreading the belief that some internet-savvy confectioner had leapt into action and released an entire line of snack foods purely to capitalise on the internet phenomenon.

The truth, of course, is that Australians have been eating edible Pods for well over a decade — years before the first YouTube vlogger chose to eat poison for an online audience.

Move over Tide Pods. Mars has edible pods in three varieties: Snickers, Mars and Twix. Eat this, not that. pic.twitter.com/e5rx6Ac4kv
— John Benavidez (@ProfBenavidez) February 19, 2018
Tide Pod shaped Twix chocolate candies.
plz end us.https://t.co/LrU1XeKnMU #FridayFeeling pic.twitter.com/RdLk7uoVBn
— Kek_Magician (@Keque_Mage) February 16, 2018
The pictures haven’t been photoshopped, nor are they some sick joke coming out of a country that abounds with various things (floods, fires, crocs, sharks, snakes, drop bears, the list goes on…) that are trying to kill you.

Australians can literally walk into any supermarket Down Under and tuck away an entire bag of Pods without worrying about a phone call to their local poison control centre. And they’ve been doing so since way back in 2004.

Produced by Mars Chocolate Australia, edible Pods come in three variations: Pods with Mars, Pods with Snickers and Pods Twix. Other flavours — honeycomb, cherry, mint and coconut, to name a few — haven’t stood the test of time.

These Pods are essentially a small cup of crunchy biscuit containing a filling (caramel or cream) that’s then coated in a layer of milk chocolate. In other words, a bite-sized morsel of crunchy, gooey, chocolatey goodness that tastes an awful lot better than a gob full of Linear Alkylbenzene Sulfonates, Alcoholethoxy Sulfate and Propylene Glycol.

To borrow from a review from respected confectionery blog Candy Addict, “My words fail to grasp just how delicious these really are… basically they are the physical representation of the word ‘awesome’.” High praise indeed.

And as delicious as these chocolate Pods are, they do come with one warning label: incorrect use can destroy your washing machine.

Since you are here, we would like to share our vision for the future of travel - and the direction Culture Trip is moving in.

Culture Trip launched in 2011 with a simple yet passionate mission: to inspire people to go beyond their boundaries and experience what makes a place, its people and its culture special and meaningful — and this is still in our DNA today. We are proud that, for more than a decade, millions like you have trusted our award-winning recommendations by people who deeply understand what makes certain places and communities so special.

Increasingly we believe the world needs more meaningful, real-life connections between curious travellers keen to explore the world in a more responsible way. That is why we have intensively curated a collection of premium small-group trips as an invitation to meet and connect with new, like-minded people for once-in-a-lifetime experiences in three categories: Culture Trips, Rail Trips and Private Trips. Our Trips are suitable for both solo travelers, couples and friends who want to explore the world together.

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