Man dies from caffeine overdose after drinking equivalent of 200 cups of coffee

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The man made an error when measuring caffeine powder that resulted in him consuming a fatal dose of caffeine.

Ground coffee in a scoop.
Ground coffee in a scoop. (Image credit: MirageC/Getty Images)

A man in the U.K. died from a caffeine overdose after drinking a mixture containing the caffeine equivalent of several hundred cups of coffee, according to news reports.

The 29-year-old man, Tom Mansfield, was a personal trainer who had ordered a 100 gram (3.5 oz) bag of caffeine powder to use in supplement drinks, according to Yahoo News. However, when measuring the powder on a scale, he made an error that resulted in him consuming a fatal dose of caffeine.

Caffeine powders can be dangerous because they are much more potent than caffeine-containing beverages like coffee. In 2015, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned several companies selling the powder that their products posed a "significant or unreasonable risk of illness or injury to consumers," Live Science previously reported.

The agency noted that it can be difficult for consumers to accurately measure a safe dose of caffeine powder. For example, to measure out 50 mg of powder using a quarter-teaspoon measuring spoon, a consumer needs to fill just 6% of the spoon. "The difference between a safe amount and a toxic dose of caffeine in these pure powdered products is very small," the agency said.

In Mansfield's case, the company that sold the powdered caffeine product did not include a scoop to measure at the time of Mansfield's death; but the brand now does include a scoop, according to North Wales Live. The corner said that if the scoop had been available at the time, Mansfield would likely still be alive, North Wales Live reported.

Related: signs you might have caffeine sensitivity

Originally published on Live Science. 

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Rachael Rettner
Rachael Rettner
Contributor

Rachael is a Live Science contributor, and was a former channel editor and senior writer for Live Science between 2010 and 2022. She has a master's degree in journalism from New York University's Science, Health and Environmental Reporting Program. She also holds a B.S. in molecular biology and an M.S. in biology from the University of California, San Diego. Her work has appeared in Scienceline, The Washington Post and Scientific American.