A 54-year-old construction worker from Massachusetts, who has not been named, has passed away. And his love of licorice may have been a contributing factor.

Massachusetts Man dies from licorice overdose: He used to eat a bag and a half of the sweets a day. He appeared to be quite fit and healthy before going in to a cardiac arrest in a fast food restaurant.

A post mortem revealed that he had dangerously low potassium levels in his body. With glycyrrhizic acid, found in licorice, likely being the cause of death. Medics from the local hospital said that the man started gasping before losing consciousness.

Although doctors managed to resuscitate him he died later in hospital. The cause of death was noted as a cardiac arrest with ventricular fibrillation. Which is when the heart starts to beat rapidly before stopping altogether.

Doctors who dealt with him said it was possibly due to the amount of candy he ate and his poor diet.

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