Kiwi woman 'died after drinking 8 litres of Coca-Cola a day'

Melbourne, April 19 (ANI): The partner of a mum-of-eight who drank 18 pints of Coca-Cola a day has blamed the addiction for her death.

Natasha Marie Harris, 30, from New Zealand, died suddenly more than two years ago.

According to the Southland Times, 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, News.com.au 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". (ANI)