Black Pastors Sue Coke: 'We're Losing More People to the Sweets Than to the Streets'

Two African-American pastors filed a lawsuit against Coca-Cola alleging that the company is killing their parishioners.

The Washington Post reported Thursday that the lawsuit filed by William Lamar of the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C. and Delman Coates, the pastor at Mount Ennon Baptist Church in Clinton, Md., was born out of funerals at the pastors' churches for people who died of heart disease, diabetes, and stroke.

"It's become really clear to me that we're losing more people to the sweets than to the streets," Coates told the Post. "There's a great deal of misinformation in our communities, and I think that's largely a function of these deceptive marketing campaigns."

The two pastors blamed Coca-Cola and the American Beverage Association, another defendant in the lawsuit, for intentionally not being truthful with customers regarding the sugar content in their products and the dangers it poses.

Coca-Cola told the Post, "the allegations here are likewise legally and factually meritless, and we will vigorously defend against them."

A similar lawsuit was filed in California earlier this year, but was dismissed to make way for the most recent suit, the Post writes.

Coca-Cola said in April a tax on sugary drinks in Philadelphia has resulted in a 32 percent drop in sales in the city. 

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