By Serena Ng 

Several U.S. makers of concentrated laundry-detergent packets will soon coat the product in a foul-tasting substance, the latest in a series of measures aimed at reducing the poisoning risk to young children.

Sun Products Corp., the maker of All Mighty Pacs, and Cot'n Wash Inc., which makes liquid laundry packets under the Dropps brand, said they would add an "aversive agent" to the soluble film coating their single-dose laundry packets by the end of September, company executives said. The substance would have a bitter or repulsive taste and is meant to deter young children from biting into the laundry packets.

Procter & Gamble Co., which makes over 75% of the laundry packets sold in the U.S., said it would also add a bitter taste to the outer layer of its Tide Pods, Gain Flings, and Ariel Pods in North America this fall, and plans to step up its advertising campaigns on other safety measures.

Some of the American manufacturers plan to use Bitrex, a bitter-tasting substance that is commonly used in household cleaning products. Gina Mercier, an executive at Johnson Matthey PLC, which makes Bitrex, said the company is currently in talks with multiple U.S. detergent brands about using the chemical.

The moves are in response to high rates of accidental exposures to laundry packets across the U.S. and follow similar steps taken recently by consumer-products manufacturers in Europe. European regulations required use of an aversive agent beginning in June. Manufacturers also have to make it harder for the packets to burst and release their contents, among other safety measures. P&G is among companies adhering to the standards in Europe, where it also has a large laundry business.

In the U.S., more than 33,000 children aged five and under have been accidentally exposed to the contents of laundry packets since the products were rolled out widely in 2012, according to cases logged by poison centers across the country. Most of the cases resulted in minor injuries, but hundreds of children were hospitalized for more-severe symptoms such as profuse vomiting, corneal abrasions and breathing problems. Some children were so sick they had to be intubated to help them breathe.

At least seven people have died after ingesting the contents of laundry packets, including children and elderly adults with dementia who may have mistaken the ping-pong-ball-size laundry packets for food or candy.

After accident rates spiked in 2012 and 2013, U.S. manufacturers made several modifications to the packaging of their products and sponsored educational campaigns on how to use them properly. They switched from clear containers to opaque ones, enlarged warning icons and in some cases made the lids of their containers harder to open. Those moves helped level the rates of accidental exposures, but the numbers remain high, which has pressured manufacturers to take additional safety measures.

U.S. consumer goods manufacturers have been working with consumer safety advocates for more than a year on a set of voluntary standards that could include changes to the laundry packets themselves, in addition to external packaging changes. The options discussed include adding an aversive agent and other steps similar to those taken in Europe. A vote on the standards is expected in the coming weeks.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission provided input into the standards and will closely monitor their effectiveness, CPSC Chairman Elliot Kaye said. The CPSC has authority to enact mandatory standards if industry can't come up with effective voluntary measures.

Henkel AG, which makes Purex and Persil detergent in the U.S., plans to follow the new standards once they are completed, a spokeswoman said. The company is already complying with the regulations in Europe.

Write to Serena Ng at serena.ng@wsj.com

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