Coroner Concludes Woman’s 2 Gallon A Day Coca-Cola Habit “A Substantial Factor” In Her Death

Consumerist ^

[SMGFan]

When a New Zealand woman died in February 2010, her family swiftly pointed fingers at her 2.2 gallon a day Coke habit. Not the white powdery stuff, the drinkable, cola-y stuff. And although it’s taken three years, a coroner has found that the beverage was a major factor in her death. Coca-Cola had pointed out last year that too much water is bad for you as well, so it’s not surprising that the company disagrees with the ruling.

The 30-year-old mother of eight guzzled a whole lot of Coke for years before her death, and the coroner said a bunch of her health problems could be connected to the “extreme” amounts she ingested daily. He said that consumption likely played a role in the cardiac arrhythmia that killed her, reports the AFP.

“I find that when all the available evidence is considered, were it not for the consumption of very large quantities of Coke by [the woman], it is unlikely that she would have died when she died and how she died,” he found. He added that her Coke habit ”was a substantial factor that contributed to the development of the metabolic imbalances which gave rise to the arrhythmia.” Although her family knew something wasn’t right — she’d “go crazy if she ran out,” her mother-in-law said last year — they figured her habit wasn’t dangerous because Coke doesn’t display any health warnings.

As such, the coroner suggested ”that Coca-Cola give consideration to the inclusion of advice as to quantity of caffeine on labels (in) its products and… adding appropriate warnings related to the dangers of consuming excessive quantities of the products.”

[presently no screen name]

I was thinking of hanging it on the clothes line but any stray cats around will think I’m feeding them. I’ll have to think about this but, for certain, I’m not doing any more experiments. :-).

[Hoffer Rand]

I know somebody like this. Sucked down at least 5-6 of the 64 oz. Big Gulp size Cokes every day just while at work. And none of the Diet stuff either. Always complaining of headaches. Can we say “caffeine addiction headaches?” Yup. A type-2 diabetic, to boot. Until last year, this person got quite the wake-up call. Had a stroke. Fortunately, it was mild, but not the same person any more. Never fully recovered. Stopped doing the coke for a couple of months, then right back to it.

[muir_redwoods]

I checked my math a bit more carefully. That much Coke is “only” about 2lbs of sugar a day.

[presently no screen name]

If she only cut back to 1.5 lbs per day./s

Thanks!