TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — At least two elderly people were taken to hospital after they mistook colorful laundry balls handed out by the Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜) presidential campaign for sweets and ingested them, reports said Saturday (Jan. 6).

The Kuomintang (KMT) candidate’s campaign office in Changhua County ordered 230,000 transparent plastic bags, each containing a red and a green laundry ball, for distribution to members of the public, per CNA. Each bag clearly showed a Mandarin text saying one ball could wash 8 kilograms of laundry.

However, because of the bright colors of the balls, a man and a woman both named Hung (洪), aged 80 and 86 respectively, ingested the balls assuming they were sweets. After treatment at a hospital Friday (Jan. 5), they had already returned home.

Doctors said the most immediate consequence of ingesting detergent would be vomiting. They advised patients not to drink water and to seek medical care immediately.

Campaign officials apologized and said they would visit the two elderly residents to discuss further action. The laundry balls had all been handed out, and there were no plans to produce any more, the Hou campaign said.