Nigerians boycott Coca-Cola drinks after court rules them 'poisonous'

* Lagos High Court rules Coca-Cola products dangerous when mixed with vitamin C
* Court orders Fanta, Sprite bottles to carry health warnings and awards damages
* Manufacturers argue their products comply with regulations


         Consumers of Sprite and Fanta have more to worry about than rotting teeth according to a Lagos High Court judge, who ruled that the Coca-Cola products could be "poisonous."

The court held that high levels of benzoic acid and sunset additives in the popular soft drinks could pose a health risk to consumers when mixed with ascorbic acid, commonly known as vitamin C, according to local media. 

Justice Adedayo Oyebanji ordered the Nigerian Bottling Company (NBC) to place written warnings on Fanta and Sprite bottles against drinking them with vitamin C, and awarded costs of two million naira ($6,350) against the National Agency For Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) for failing to ensure health standards.

"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. "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."   

Incendiary judgement

The incendiary judgment followed a lawsuit brought against regulator NAFDAC and the NBC -- a member of Coca-Cola Hellenic group which bottles Coca-Cola products in Nigeria -- by Lagos businessman Dr. Emmanuel Fijabi Adebo.

The claimant's company, Fijabi Adebo Holdings Limited, attempted to export Coca-Cola products to the United Kingdom for retail in February 2007.

But authorities in the UK seized and subsequently destroyed a shipment, Adebo claimed, because the products contained excessive levels of sunset yellow and benzoic acid. The latter substance can form the carcinogen benzene when combined with ascorbic acid, according to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). 

Lawyers for the NBC argued that the products were not intended for export, but Justice Adedayo Oyebanji rejected this defense.

"Soft drinks manufactured by Nigeria Bottling Company ought to be fit for human consumption irrespective of color or creed," the judge said.

Mr Adebo was pleased by the verdict but vowed to pursue further damages.

"I'm happy that I'm victorious and we've alerted Nigerians and the entire world to what is happening in Nigeria," the businessman told the Media. "What the court fined NAFDAC is not one tenth of the amount I've spent on litigation ... We should have been awarded at least the amount that we spent in purchasing that product and in exporting it to UK. We are entitled to special damages for what we have gone through."

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