There's a controversy brewing around laundry detergent pods.

Children have been eating the pods because they look like candy, and Senator Chuck Schumer held a news conference Sunday to bring attention to the problem, reports the New York Daily News.

“The incidents are skyrocketing. These pods were supposed to make household chores easier, not tempt our children to swallow harmful chemicals," the senator said.

"I saw one on my staffer's desk and I wanted to eat it.”

And he may have a point. According to Schumer, there have been 1,210 cases reported to poison control centers across the country.

Children have been hospitalized after eating the detergent pods, and some have needed emergency intestinal surgery.