UK VOICE: Excessive Coca-Cola intake kills New Zealand woman says coroner

A coroner in New Zealand said the consumption of a significant volume of Coca-Cola was a “substantial factor” that resulted in the death of a 30-year-old woman.

The woman in question, Natasha Harris, suffered a cardiac arrest and died three years ago.

She had drank around 10 litres of the US company’s fizzy product on a daily basis, and had developed an addiction to the soft drink.

Her rate of consumption was double the recommended daily limit of caffeine and over 11 times the healthy allowance for sugar.

Coroner David Crerar calculated her habit of 10 litres or 17.5 pints a day of Coke equated to more than 1kg or 2.2lb of sugar and 970mg of caffeine, Television New Zealand (TVNZ) reported.

Harris, a mother of eight who lived in Invercargill, southern New Zealand, had experienced health problems for years prior to her death.

The American drinks giant had denied its beverage was the cause of her death, arguing it could not be proved it was factor in her heart attack.

However, Crerar said Harris could still be alive if it were not for her Coca-Cola addiction.

“I find that when all the available evidence is considered, were it not for the consumption of very large quantities of Coke by Natasha Harris, it is unlikely that she would have died when she died and how she died,” the coroner said.

“The fact she had her teeth extracted several years before her death because of what her family believed was Coke induced tooth decay, and the fact that one or more of her children were born without enamel on their teeth, should have been treated by her, and by her family, as a warning,” he added in a statement quoted by TVNQ.

Nevertheless, Crerar was careful to point out that drinks manufacturer could not be held accountable for people who consume the product in excessive amounts.

Yet he did advise makers of sugary drinks to better display clear warnings on their product labels about how their sugar and caffeine content poses health risks.

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