Too Much Candy: Man Dies From Eating Bags of Black Licorice Every Day for Weeks

Too Much Candy: Man Dies From Eating Bags of Black Licorice Every Day for Weeks
L: Patrick Sison/AP Photo, R: Illustration - zentradyi3ell/Shutterstock
The Associated Press
Updated:

A Massachusetts construction worker’s love of black licorice wound up costing him his life. Eating a bag and a half every day for a few weeks threw his nutrients out of whack and caused the 54-year-old man’s heart to stop, doctors reported Wednesday.

“Even a small amount of licorice you eat can increase your blood pressure a little bit,” said Dr. Neel Butala, a cardiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital who described the case in the New England Journal of Medicine.