Woman from UK spends 3 days in coma after sip of diet soda

Woman from UK has spent three days in a coma after she drank diet soda and suffered a severe allergic reaction, Fox News reported. 

Elizabeth Perkins claims to have ordered regular soda at a local pub. She is severely allergic to aspartame, which is commonly found in diet sodas. Perkins claims that she told the bartender that she wanted the usual soda, but she felt something was wrong in the first sip. Perkins said she woke up three days later in the hospital.

Aspartame is approved by the FDA, WHO, American Heart Association, United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and American Dietetic Association for human consumption. However, according to HealthLine, people with phenylketonuria (PKU) should avoid using aspartame as they cannot properly handle phenylalanine, which makes aspartame very toxic.

Additionally, an allergic-type reaction to aspartame may cause swelling of the lips, tongue and throat, urticarial, skin eruptions, itching, the aggravation of respiratory allergies and possibly the swelling of the salivary glands.

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