Coco Cola
Coco Cola released a statement saying that their company’s products are safe Reuters

A New Zealand woman addicted to Coco Cola could have died due to complications caused by the excessive consumption of the soft drink, according to experts.

Natasha Harris, a mother of eight, from Invercargill in New Zealand died in 2010 after reportedly suffering from cardiac arrest. Harris was said to have consumed 8 to 10 litres of coke every day. After she died, her partner Chris Hodgkinson blamed Coca Cola company for her death, a claim that the company rejected, reported Otago Daily Times.

On Thursday, Hodgkinson told in a court inquiry that Harris was unwell for a year until her death and was having health problems which the family initially attributed to stress and gynecological problems. "She drank at least 10 litres a day. As a family we would buy four 2.5 litres a day, the maximum on special. The Coke would be for Natasha to consume over the course of the day," Otago Daily Times quoted Hodgkinson as saying.

"The first thing she would do in the morning was have a drink of Coke and the last thing she would do in the day was have a drink of Coke by her bed," he added.

Now, the medical evidence has stated that Harris could have died of hypokalemia, a condition of lack of potassium in the blood, caused probably due to excessive consumption of coke. According to Fairfax Media, Pathologist Dan Morrin who testified in the court on Thursday said that toxic levels of caffeine, a stimulant found in Coke, may have also contributed to her death, reported the Associated Press.

Meanwhile, Coco Cola Oceania's spokeswoman, Karen Thompson, has said in a statement that their company's products are safe.

"We concur with the information shared by the coroner's office that the grossly excessive ingestion of any food product, including water, over a short period of time with the inadequate consumption of essential nutrients, and the failure to seek appropriate medical intervention when needed, can be dramatically symptomatic," AP quoted Thompson as saying.

With the medical evidence available, the coroner's office will now compile the final report into the death of Harris.