Simplicity is in the eye of the beholder, yet... you need to remember the break when *writing* the code, so the loop might be more difficult to write (but then, I need to remember/lookup the function name and parameters for coalesce)... when reading the code, the break is already there, and easy to notice. With Nick's remark, it's even more obvious that it is difficult to write :-)

If an unknown (to the reader) function is used, reading the code becomes actually difficult, since the reader either needs to guess what the function does, or look it up.

Note that I'm not objecting the addition of the function (I'm neutral), just the claim that there are no simple alternatives. I'm neutral because it falls under the "not every two-line function needs to go into the standard library" rule; but then, if it is really popular, it helps readability if it is in the library (rather than duplicated by users).