Death by cola

Did you hear about the New Zealand woman who died from drinking too much Coca-Cola? According to a news report, the 31-year-old woman died from a heart attack and a coroner said her 2-gallons-a-day cola habit was likely a “substantial factor” in her death. A pathologist who examined her body found that she suffered from low potassium and had an enlarged liver from excessive sugar consumption.

After the death of the woman, who was of normal weight, the coroner called for soft-drink labels warning about the ill health effects when consumed excessively.

A food executive nixed the idea, noting that “it doesn't matter what the food is. If it's consumed in excess, there will be ill health effects.”

It reminds me of the jumbo soda ban in New York City. Some argue that people should be able to choose what they drink, even if it's a dumb choice.

As we recently discussed in the newsroom, you can't legislate stupidity. Some people will always make bad choices, no matter what the law says.