A New Zealand woman's
10-litre (2.2 gallon) a day Coca-Cola habit was a major factor in her death, a
coroner found Tuesday, urging the soft drink giant to put health warnings on
its caffeinated products.
Natasha Harris, a 30-year-old mother of eight
from Invercargill in southern New Zealand, drank huge amounts of the fizzy
beverage for years before her death in February 2010, coroner David Crerar
found.
He said Harris suffered from a number of
health conditions which could be linked to the "extreme" amounts of
Coke she downed, playing a role in the cardiac arrhythmia that finally killed
her.
"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," he found.
He added that Harris's Coke habit "was a
substantial factor that contributed to the development of the metabolic
imbalances which gave rise to the arrhythmia".
A pathologist found Harris, who did not drink
alcohol, had an enlarged liver due to fatty deposits caused by excessive sugar
consumption and low potassium levels in her blood, which can affect cardiac
function.
Her family said she complained of a
"racing heart" before her death and they considered her addicted to
Coke, which she drank throughout her waking hours.
"(She would) go crazy if she ran out...
she would get the shakes, withdrawal symptoms, be angry, on edge and
snappy," her mother-in-law Vivien Hodgkinson told the inquest into her
death last year.
Harris's family told the inquest she had all
her teeth removed after they went rotten due to excessive soft drink
consumption and at least one of her children was born with no enamel on its
teeth.
Crerar said the family had not considered her
Coke habit dangerous because the drink did not carry any health warnings.
He recommended "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".
He also said authorities should examine
whether health warnings were needed and consider lowering the maximum amount of
caffeine allowed in carbonated beverages.
However, the coroner also said all the
ingredients of Coke were "entirely legal (and) are enjoyed by
millions".
"Coca-Cola cannot be held responsible
for the health of consumers who drink unhealthy quantities of the
product," he said in a written finding.
Coca-Cola Oceania said in a statement that
experts had been unable to agree on what caused Harris's heart attack and
Crerar had acknowledged that he could not be certain what was behind it.
"Therefore we are disappointed that the
coroner has chosen to focus on the combination of Ms Harris' excessive
consumption of Coca-Cola, together with other health and lifestyle factors, as
the probable cause of her death," it said.
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