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Ammon News - At least three people were hospitalised when they ate laundry detergent after mistaking it for candy, it has been reported.

The laundry pods were handed as part of a campaign freebie in Taiwan's presidential race - with victims thought to have mistaken the pods for candy, Taiwanese media reports.

The colourful pods came in partially clear packaging displaying images of Nationalist Party candidate Hou Yu-ih and his running mate. Writing on the bag said "Vote for No. 3", the number representing the place on the ballot for the Nationalist ticket in the three-way race. The bag also read that each detergent pod can wash up to eight kilograms (18 pounds) of clothes.

But some voters appear to have missed the writing on the bag. One of the victims who mistakenly ate the pods said she thought they were candy, the Central News Agency reported. A Nationalist campaign office saw roughly 460,000 pods being distributed to crowds. Hung Jung-chang, head of the office in central Taiwan, apologised for the incident, the news agency said.

Among those hospitalised were an 80-year-old man and an 86-year-old woman who had to have their stomachs flushed before they could be discharged, the news agency said.

Mirror