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Liv friis-larsen ^[4] / Shutterstock ^[5]

A 31-year-old mother from New Zealand died three years ago from drinking too much Coca-Cola ^[6], a coroner has found. Natasha Harris was addicted to the beverage, according to her family, and drank up to 10 liters a day. If she went without it, they said she would get “the shakes.” All of her teeth had been removed as a result of tooth decay, ^[7] and some of her eight children inherited bad teeth as well. She died of cardiac arrest.

While Coca-Cola ^[10] claimed it is impossible to prove that she died from drinking their dark beverage, coroner David Crerar ruled that Coca-Cola was a “substantial factor” in Natasha Harris’ death. Her habit included a daily intake of 2.2 pounds of sugar and 970 mg of caffeine. That is 11 times more sugar than health officials recommend and twice the amount of caffeine, the BBC reports ^[11].

This excess led to cardiac arrhythmia, according to Crerar, who said in a statement that Coca-Cola can’t be held accountable for Harris’ death as she and her family should have responded to many years of poor health.

“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,” Television New Zealand ^[12] (TVNZ) quoted him as saying.

Via BBC News ^[11]