Photo: Contributed

A P.E.I. police force is taking a light-hearted approach to a strange and dangerous online trend.

An officer with Kensington police posted a video on its Facebook page describing the dangers of eating laundry detergent pods.

In the seven-minute video, Const. Robb Hartlen reminds people that a banana and Timbit are safe to eat, but that a Tide pod or Timbit package are not.

Sitting in his police cruiser, Hartlen says people tempted to do the so-called Tide pod challenge should instead bring back other, healthier online trends such as the ALS ice-bucket challenge.

The latest pod challenge involves people biting into the colourful laundry pods, filming their reactions and posting them online — which has resulted more than 40 hospitalizations in Canada and the U.S. so far this year.

Hartlen says if someone sees a person about to eat a pod, they should "feel free to give them an orange" instead.