After a chemical packaged in a small foil packet used to create color flames in fires left several Minnesota toddlers sick, authorities were warning others ahead of the Fourth of July holiday.
KARE reported Minnesota Poison Control was warning parents about the product, Mystical Fire, after four poisoning cases.
Mystical Fire, made by Mystical Distributing in Canada, is sold in a packet that looks similar to Pop Rocks, a popping candy.
The product, used in campfires to bring bright colors like blues and greens to flames, contains copper sulfate.
Although the package does contain a warning -- it says to throw the package directly into the flames and not to open it -- several children were sickened, and one was sent to the hospital.
The package also warns: "Caution! Irritant. Harmful if swallowed. Keep out of reach of children.”
One way to tell if a toddler has ingested the product is look for bright blue or bright green vomit, the same color of the product in the flames, Minnesota Poison Control Medical Director, Jon Cole, said.
Mystical Distributing President Mark Phillips said the product is "tamper-proof," and reminds users to never open the packages.
"I’ve been selling this product 16 to 17 years, we don’t have any problems with it. There is some negligence or neglect on somebody’s part, why it got in the hands of the toddler,” Phillips said.
KARE also reported that one case on record, a 60-year-old man in Massachusetts had mistaken Mystical Fire for Pop Rocks and died from the ingestion.
