A man in the US State of Massachusetts has apparently died after eating too much liquorice.
According to BBC News, the 54 year old construction worker died after it was revealed that he ate one and half bags of liquorice a day.
It is believed that the case came to light when doctors published a report in the New England Journal of Medicine exploring the probable cause of the man’s death.
In a post in the New England Journal of Medicine Dr Elazer R Edelman said glycyrrhizic acid the active ingredient in liquorice is most likely to have contributed to the man’s death.
It is noted that glycyrrhizic acid can cause “hypertension, hypokalemia, metabolic alkalosis, fatal arrhythmias, and renal failure.
Dr Edelman also noted that all of the above symptoms were seen in the patient who had made a change from red fruit flavoured vines to black liquorice.
The findings which have been backed by other medical professionals who concluded that the man’s death diet of liquorice contributed to his hypokalemia.