Skip to main content
Partly Cloudy icon
58º

Too much candy: Man dies from eating bags of black licorice

This Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2020 photo shows an arrangement of licorice candy pieces in New York. A Massachusetts construction workers love of black licorice wound up costing him his life. Eating a bag and a half every day for a few weeks threw his essential nutrients out of whack and caused the 54-year-old mans heart to stop, doctors reported Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2020. (AP Photo/Patrick Sison) (Patrick Sison)

Doctors say 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, according to a report Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Recommended Videos



The problem is a substance found in black licorice and in many other foods and dietary supplements containing licorice root extract.

Eating as little as 2 ounces of black licorice a day for two weeks could cause a heart rhythm problem, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warns.


Recommended Videos