Some cravings are hard to ignore, but one man had a hankering for some gummy cola bottles that just wouldn’t quit. After inhaling an entire 3kg (6.6 pounds) bag of Haribo gummies in just three days, 33-year-old Nathan Rimington found himself in the ER. What started as a harmless sweet-tooth binge quickly turned into a medical nightmare, leaving the UK truck driver drenched in sweat, with a bloated stomach and severe abdominal pain.
Rimington, based in Yorkshire, ordered the 3kg bulk bag of gummy candies online for £18 (about $22). He thought it was a steal—I mean, who wouldn’t want nearly 7 pounds of cola-flavored treats? But by the third day, his indulgence had consequences.
“The next day my stomach was in absolute agony,” he said, reported by Manchester Evening News. “By Wednesday, I couldn’t even get out of bed. I was sweating; it was awful.”
His symptoms sent him straight to the hospital, where doctors found Rimington’s blood pressure was off the charts, and his stomach pain showed no signs of letting up. Initial thoughts were food poisoning, but when tests revealed high levels of gelatin in his system, the cause became clear—he had overdosed on the very ingredient that makes gummy candies chewy.
Gelatin, the backbone of most gummy treats, is a common culprit in diverticulitis, a condition in which small pouches form in the colon and become infected. Rimington’s extreme consumption triggered a painful flare-up of this condition, and doctors quickly treated him with IV fluids and pain management.
“It was my own stupid fault,” he said after the diagnosis, noting that he’d never expected his candy cravings to spiral into a hospital stay.
Even after the dust settled, Rimington couldn’t escape the trauma. “On my birthday, my best mate bought me a 3kg bag of cola bottles as a joke. It’s like PTSD now,” he joked. “I see a cola bottle and think I’m going to end up in A&E (the ER).”
It’s a cautionary tale for us all. Indulging in a bag of gummies now and then is fine, but too much—especially sugar and gelatin—can do serious damage. Rimington’s advice to others? “Just do it in moderation. Don’t go full blast and buy kilos of it at a time.”
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