Nigerian Court Declares Coca-Cola To Be Poisonous

Before you ask, the ruling came down from a real judge in a real courtroom. It was not delivered via email by a prince who offered us millions of dollars if we could help him. Also, the reason for this ruling doesn’t even have anything to do with the fact that a single can of Coke has over nine teaspoons of sugar. It’s way scarier than that.

According to the lawsuit, the factory where the soda is made in Nigeria uses dangerous levels of both sunset yellow food dye and benzoic acid in the production of the drink. Both are known carcinogens that become even more harmful to the human body when combined with vitamin C. In their defense, Coca-Cola claims there’s no scientific basis for the ruling.

Nigeria isn’t the first government to raise a fuss over these chemicals. In Europe, they’ve flagged several Coca-Cola products including Fanta Orange, Fanta Lemon, Fanta Pineapple, Sprite, Coca-Cola, and soda water for containing both sunset yellow food dye and benzoic acid. Sunset yellow food dye helps give Coca-Cola products their color and benzoic acid is a preservative that inhibits the growth of warm weather microorganisms.

Here is Coca-Cola’s statemen on the issue:
“Recent claims that The Coca-Cola Company’s Fanta and Sprite beverages are unfit for consumption when combined with vitamin C are inaccurate and unsupported by science. All our products are safe and strictly adhere to regulations in the countries where they are sold while complying with our Company’s stringent global safety and quality standards.”

Source: Inhabitat