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Natasha Marie Harris, 30, died suddenly more than two years ago.
At a coroner's inquest into her death today, her partner, Christopher Hodgkinson, said Ms Harris was unwell before her death but he never thought the soft drink could be to blame, the Southland Times reported.
"I didn't ever think about the Coke. I never considered it would do any harm to a person. It's a soft drink ... I didn't think a drink's going to kill you," Mr Hodgkinson, from Invercargill, said.
He estimated she drank between 4.5 and eight litres a day for seven or eight years before she died.
Last year the Southland Times reported Ms Harris's autopsy showed she had a diseased liver but the cause of death was undetermined.
Mr Hodgkinson said he had been informed his partner, and the mother of their eight children, had a heart aneurysm caused by too much Coca-Cola.
Coca-Cola Amatil New Zealand managing director George Adams said at the time that Mr Hodgkinson's claims were "patently untrue".
Jeez. To think this was like me back in my teens. (3-4 cans a day) I'm very glad I stopped when I did. And now actually I hate Coke. Too sweet for my liking.







