UK Cleaning Products Industry Association

Private and voluntary organisations · Trade association

Pin Request correction

First report 13 Aug 2024•Latest report 13 Aug 2024

Reports, concerns and published responses

Reports over time

Reports naming this recipient by issue year.

* 2026 is projected from reports observed to 7 Sep 2026.

Reports
1

Naming this recipient

Published responses
0%

Found for named reports

Concerns addressed
0

Across all linked responses

Stated actions
0

Described in responses

Concerns and recipient responses

Statements from UK Cleaning Products Industry Association linked to the concerns in each report. Select any concern, action or position to view the source wording.

  1. Inner North London

    AI-generated summary

    Elizabeth Van Der Drift · Prevention of Future Deaths report

    This summary was generated using AI from the published report. Please read the original report for the complete account.

    Report summary

    Elizabeth Van Der Drift, who had dementia, accessed brightly coloured laundry detergent capsules on the night of 13/14 March 2024, apparently mistaking them for sweets, and bit into at least one. She was taken to hospital and died on 19 March 2024 despite treatment. The report raised concerns that the product’s colours, appearance and packaging could lead to accidental ingestion by people with dementia or other cognitive impairment, and that its packaging lacked a safety feature making access particularly difficult.

    Read the report on judiciary.uk

    Source evidence

    How this individual concern was interpreted

    PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the report wording shown below. The report was sent to UK Cleaning Products Industry Association; that does not assign responsibility.

    PFD Monitor interpretation

    Failure of product appearance and packaging to avoid confusion with food

    Wider context from the report

    “(1) The product in question, Sainsbury’s Tropical Escape Bio Laundry Capsules, due to its eye-catching colours, appearance, and packaging, is being confused with food and risks being accidently ingested by those with dementia or other cognitive impairment (as well as children). (2) There was no safety feature observed on the packaging that made accessing the content particularly difficult, which increases the risk of accidental or inadvertent ingestion. ”
    Open source report

    Source evidence

    How this individual concern was interpreted

    PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the report wording shown below. The report was sent to UK Cleaning Products Industry Association; that does not assign responsibility.

    PFD Monitor interpretation

    Production of laundry tablets/pods and packaging that can be confused with food by people with cognitive impairment

    Wider context from the report

    “(1) During the course of hearing the evidence I was shown a picture of the packaging for the laundry tablets/pods in question. The packaging, in this instance, was predominantly bright pink and white, with orange, yellow and green also present. One witness (a carer experienced in caring for those living with dementia) gave me her view that the packaging bore more than a passing resemblance to a bag of sweets, and she considered that this was more likely to be the case when viewed from the point of view of a person living with dementia or some other cognitive impairment. In my view, the packaging of this particular product is not alone among similar products, that also opt for bright, eye-catching colours. It was for this reason that I formed the view that sending this report to the individual manufacturer/retailer (under whose brand the product was labelled) would be short-sighted. The employment of eye-catching and bright colours appears to be an industry-wide phenomenon. It has long been acknowledged that products of this nature can pose risks to children; however, there appears to be less acknowledgement of the risks posed to those living with dementia or other forms of cognitive impairment. In terms of the laundry tablets/pods themselves, I note that these have a jelly-like appearance and again I regard them as being colourful and potentially sweet-like in their appearance. This again has the serious potential to render a highly toxic/hazardous product as appealing to those with dementia or other cognitive impairment (as well as children). There is a wealth of material available (media reports, scientific studies and research etc.) to document the relatively frequency that products of this nature are accidentally or inadvertently ingested. I am well aware of The Food Imitations (Safety) Regulations 1989, UKSI 1989 No. 1291 and note Regulation 4, in particular. However, it seems to me either that the regulations themselves have insufficient regard to those living with dementia or other cognitive impairment or that the application of the regulations is not approached with sufficient rigour. The overarching concern here is that laundry tablets/pods and their packaging are being produced in a way that, by virtue of their bright colouring, appearance, and packaging, are being confused with food by people living with dementia or other cognitive impairment. The issue is, in my opinion, compounded when one considers that the products themselves are far from innocuous in the event of their accidental ingestion. ”
    Open source report

    Source evidence

    How this individual concern was interpreted

    PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the report wording shown below. The report was sent to UK Cleaning Products Industry Association; that does not assign responsibility.

    PFD Monitor interpretation

    Lack of packaging design features that make accessing laundry tablets/pods difficult

    Wider context from the report

    “(2) In this case, I also noted that there was no obvious design feature, in terms of the packaging, that makes accessing the content particularly difficult for someone with even the most basic of manual dexterity. In my view, this only adds to the risks. ”
    Open source report

    Source evidence

    How this individual concern was interpreted

    PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the report wording shown below. The report was sent to UK Cleaning Products Industry Association; that does not assign responsibility.

    PFD Monitor interpretation

    Lack of packaging safety features restricting access to laundry capsules

    Wider context from the report

    “(1) The product in question, Sainsbury’s Tropical Escape Bio Laundry Capsules, due to its eye-catching colours, appearance, and packaging, is being confused with food and risks being accidently ingested by those with dementia or other cognitive impairment (as well as children). (2) There was no safety feature observed on the packaging that made accessing the content particularly difficult, which increases the risk of accidental or inadvertent ingestion. ”
    Open source report

    Source evidence

    How this individual concern was interpreted

    PFD Monitor created a concise, searchable interpretation from the report wording shown below. The report was sent to UK Cleaning Products Industry Association; that does not assign responsibility.

    PFD Monitor interpretation

    Food-imitation regulations insufficiently protective of people with cognitive impairment or insufficiently rigorously applied

    Wider context from the report

    “(1) During the course of hearing the evidence I was shown a picture of the packaging for the laundry tablets/pods in question. The packaging, in this instance, was predominantly bright pink and white, with orange, yellow and green also present. One witness (a carer experienced in caring for those living with dementia) gave me her view that the packaging bore more than a passing resemblance to a bag of sweets, and she considered that this was more likely to be the case when viewed from the point of view of a person living with dementia or some other cognitive impairment. In my view, the packaging of this particular product is not alone among similar products, that also opt for bright, eye-catching colours. It was for this reason that I formed the view that sending this report to the individual manufacturer/retailer (under whose brand the product was labelled) would be short-sighted. The employment of eye-catching and bright colours appears to be an industry-wide phenomenon. It has long been acknowledged that products of this nature can pose risks to children; however, there appears to be less acknowledgement of the risks posed to those living with dementia or other forms of cognitive impairment. In terms of the laundry tablets/pods themselves, I note that these have a jelly-like appearance and again I regard them as being colourful and potentially sweet-like in their appearance. This again has the serious potential to render a highly toxic/hazardous product as appealing to those with dementia or other cognitive impairment (as well as children). There is a wealth of material available (media reports, scientific studies and research etc.) to document the relatively frequency that products of this nature are accidentally or inadvertently ingested. I am well aware of The Food Imitations (Safety) Regulations 1989, UKSI 1989 No. 1291 and note Regulation 4, in particular. However, it seems to me either that the regulations themselves have insufficient regard to those living with dementia or other cognitive impairment or that the application of the regulations is not approached with sufficient rigour. The overarching concern here is that laundry tablets/pods and their packaging are being produced in a way that, by virtue of their bright colouring, appearance, and packaging, are being confused with food by people living with dementia or other cognitive impairment. The issue is, in my opinion, compounded when one considers that the products themselves are far from innocuous in the event of their accidental ingestion. ”
    Open source report
Back to top

Information checked against published PFD reports and official responses · Data reviewed 7 Sep 2026 · About data quality and limitations

Data last updated 7 September 2026