http://abcnews.go.com/sections/world/DailyNews/egypt000518_coke.html

This weird rumor apparently started on the Internet, and was taken seriously enough in Egypt to cause a 20% drop in Coca-Cola sales. Egypt's Grand Mufti, the most senior Muslim cleric, even felt it was necessary to issue a fatwa to debunk the rumor.

Keep in mind that these are people who still believed, in the majority, that Osama Bin laden was NOT involved in the Sep. 11 terrorist attacks, even after Bin Laden himself bragged about the attacks in a video.

Religious belief and a lack of clear thinking and indulgence in irrational conspiracy theories have always gone hand in hand. The more religious, the more irrational.