Nigerian Court Rules That Coca-Cola Products Could Be Poisonous

You may want to think about cutting back on your soda habit. A court in Nigeria recently ruled that certain Coca-Cola products could be "poisonous."

A Lagos High Court judge said that Sprite and Fanta contain such high levels of benzoic acid and "sunset yellow" artificial coloring (known in the U.S. as FD&C Yellow 6) that — when combined with vitamin C — they could pose serious health risks to consumers.

The judge ordered that labels be placed on bottles of Sprite and Fanta warning consumers against drinking the beverages along with high quantities of vitamin C and ordered a penalty of two million naira ($6,350) to be paid by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) for failing to follow health procedures.

"It is manifest that NAFDAC has been grossly irresponsible in its regulatory duties to the consumers of Fanta and Sprite manufactured by Nigeria Bottling Company," the judge said, according to CNN. "NAFDAC has failed the citizens of this great nation by its certification as satisfactory for human consumption products ... which become poisonous in the presence of ascorbic acid."