They certainly look like candies and even their packages look like some candy packages.
A lot of people don't have locked or separate laundry rooms (most people I know have their laundry machines/products either in their kitchen or in their bathroom...).
And because kids might see their parents using these attractive pods, manipulate their package, notice where they store them or even when they buy them with other food at the grocery store. I think it's normal for some of them to assume these nice-looking candy-like pods probably bought at the supermarket could be eaten!
I also guess that some of the poisoned kids were able to reach the packages in supposed inaccessible locations just because they were so attracted by the package!
Of course, we can blame parents for a lot of things, including buying detergent pods that are packaged and even looking as attractive candy without thinking their children might get fooled... But making these candy-like pods without thinking about the potential issues with them isn't the best idea to begin with...
When my mother and aunt were kids back in the late 1950s, one of their neighbors distributed what looked like mint candies to other kids of the neighborhood. My mother didn't want to eat one but a lot of kids ate them and my aunt didn't even notice the first one didn't taste that great so she ate two of these candies which were in fact cockroach poison tablets... Nobody died but the doctor got quite busy with these kids!
I guess they looked like these boric acid tablets!
I even salivate when I see these packages, there must be something wrong with them!
