title: The Coca-Cola incident in Belgium, June 1999.
abstract: The present paper describes the outbreak of health complaints that occurred in Belgium, in June 1999, among schoolchildren and members of the general public in relation to the consumption of Coca-Cola and other soft drinks. The outbreak took place in the wake of a major food crisis, caused by PCB/dioxin contamination of animal feed, that had erupted shortly before. The clinical features (absence of serious poisoning) and epidemiological characteristics of the Coca-Cola outbreak pointed to mass sociogenic illness, and no subsequent toxicological or other data have refuted this hypothesis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pneumology, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium. ben.nemery@med.kuleuven.ac.be
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Nemery
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Fischler
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Boogaerts
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lison
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Willems
mesh_terms: D015746:Abdominal Pain / Q000453:epidemiology; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000821:Animal Feed; D001530:Belgium / Q000453:epidemiology; D002253:Carbonated Beverages / Q000009:adverse effects*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000453:epidemiology; D004147:Dioxins / Q000633:toxicity; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D005260:Female; D005506:Food Contamination; D006261:Headache / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009325:Nausea / Q000453:epidemiology; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls / Q000633:toxicity; D013334:Students; D014839:Vomiting / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D004147:Dioxins; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls