Too much fizzy drink will rot your teeth, but if you are a small rodent, and if the drink happens to be called Mountain Dew, then it's capable of dissolving your entire body.
So claims PepsiCo, the drinks behemoth, which has cited the extraordinarily corrosive nature of its bright green product associated with extreme sports in an effort to defend itself against a personal injury lawsuit.
Ronald Ball, 52, from Wisconsin, alleged, in a US$50,000 ($63,600) claim, that a can of Mountain Dew made him so ill that he "began to vomit". He found a dead mouse inside it.
PepsiCo hired veterinary surgeon Lawrence McGill to conduct a detailed post mortem examination. Noting the high acidity of the drink, the vet argued that after 30 days, the time Ball claims the creature was in the can, the rodent would have disintegrated into a "jelly-like substance".
- INDEPENDENT