London, Aug 12 (ANI): Drinking as little as two cans of fizzy drink a day can cause severe long-term liver damage, warns new study.

The research, which raises health concerns associated with non-alcoholic drinks like carbonated drinks and fruit juice, claims that sugar-laden drinks have been found to cause a condition normally the result of chronic alcohol abuse.

Experts said that the liver cannot process the huge sugar hit the drinks contain.

The study found that people who drank a daily litre of fizzy drinks or fresh fruit juices were five times more likely to develop fatty liver disease, reports The Daily Express.

In severe cases fatty liver disease can even lead to victims needing a transplant.

In the study, which was conducted by Israeli scientists at the Ziv Liver unit in Haifa, it was found that drinking as little as a couple of cans of pop a day, like cola or lemonade, raised the risk of liver damage as well as potentially causing diabetes and heart damage.

Dr Nimer Assy said his research, published in the Journal of Hepatology, showed that long-term consumption of fizzy drinks could result in liver failure and the need for a transplant.

The ingredient in fizzy drinks and juices that causes the damage is a fruit sugar called fructose, which is highly absorbable in the liver.

Assy said: "Fructose ups the chances that you will suffer from a fatty liver, which can lead to cirrhosis of the liver and liver ­cancer." (ANI)