Rumors persisted that eating Pop Rocks and drinking soda would cause a person's stomach to boil and explode. This was, in part, caused by the false assumption that Pop Rocks contain an acid/base mixture (such as baking soda and vinegar) which produces large volumes of gas when mixed through chewing and saliva. One of these myths involved child actor John Gilchrist ("Little Mikey" in 1970s Life cereal television commercials), who was falsely rumored to have died after consuming excess amounts of Pop Rocks and Coca-Cola.